


New Light

by kaileeyp



Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers Generation One
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Cute Kids, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Eventual Romance, Family, Family Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Injury Recovery, M/M, Mentions of Jazz/Prowl - Freeform, Near Death Experiences, Soundwave being deep and sad, it gets happier I swear
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-25
Updated: 2019-03-30
Packaged: 2019-04-07 19:41:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 39,826
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14088243
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kaileeyp/pseuds/kaileeyp
Summary: Another habitual Earth battle between the Autobots and Decepticons comes to a screeching halt as an unexpected tragedy occurs. The resulting near death experience leaves Soundwave shaken and in the care of the Autobots. It is up to Soundwave to find his new light from there.(Soundwave/Blaster... Mentions of Jazz/Prowl)





	1. The First Light

**Author's Note:**

> Ohhh man it's been a long time since I have written! So Sorry for vanishing! I plan on making this one a multi-chapter fic, so subscribe and stuff if you are wanting more! These characters are not mine, I'm just playing with them. Enjoy!
> 
> Warning: contains a near death experience and Soundwave being an introspective dork

Nothing in particular separated this battle from any other. It had begun like many before it, with gloating and spewed insults from Starscream and hot headed responses from some of the Autobots. Optimus Prime and Megatron had, of course, taken some time to reiterate their monologs to one-another, insisting that the other step down. When neither stepped down, the two large mechs began their fighting. The rest of their troops fell in step behind them until the field was nothing more than a sea of flying dust and gun shots. There was nothing notable about this pattern, it had been done before and it would likely be done many more times after. The troops involved engaged in this fighting as they had every other, almost to a point of perfect rehearsal. To say that the Autobots and Decepticons had been fighting for a long time would be a gross understatement. If this fight were like the many fights before it, it would end with one faction retreating to safety as the other stayed to hand the land back to the humans, or alternatively, pillage the land for the resources it had and flee. If this battle was like the many before it, it would be a short-lived skirmish that left the mechs involved with wounds to repair and resources to restore. Very few battles on Earth resulted in mortality for either side. The civil war was dying out, Cybertronian populations were dissolving among the stars. If it where possible to win a battle with non-fatal tactics, both factions had an un-spoken agreement that this would be the case. Far too many mechs had been lost in the horrifically wasteful early days of the war, the remaining few were far too low in numbers to slay and slaughter without a thought. Besides, what would be the purpose of winning the war if it meant killing off most the remaining population? This unspoken agreement between the war-exhausted Autobots and Decepticons was honoured most days, and if this battle were like any other battle, this would be the way. However, this battle was not like any other battle. 

Soundwave slid down the muddy hill, he braced himself with his servo as he dropped. The battle was progressing as he had estimated, Megatron and Optimus had come to blows already, the troops were engaged in their typical groups, yelling and fighting amongst each-other. With a quick scan across his bonds, Soundwave check on each of his cassette’s status. Rumble and Frenzy were functioning well, perhaps even enjoying themselves as they taunted and chased the humans. Lazerbeak, Buzzsaw, and Ratbat were circling the field, watching their siblings and swooping in to claw at unexpecting Autobots. Ravage was slipping between the peds of fighting mechs, completely undetected. Soundwave double checked with Ratbat, his youngest creation, who was still relatively new to the battle scenes. Ratbat confirmed his status with a friendly ping and turned down Soundwave’s offer to dock him for the rest of the battle. With all of his cassettes in good shape, Soundwave turned his attention to his Autobot counterpart. Blaster stood before him, servos resting on his hips and his typical playful grin spread across his faceplates. How Soundwave hated that slag-eating, friendly grin Blaster always gave him.  
“Well look who decided to join the party”, The red boombox joked, showing no signs of battle readiness.  
“War: not a party”, Soundwave reiterated blandly, much to the amusement of Blaster. With a scoff and a playful swipe at the air, Blaster responded with his usual taunts and jeers. Everything was perfectly normal. Finally, with the blue mech stepping forward, the boomboxes engaged in their typical fighting habits. Their movements were laced with verbal jeers from Blaster, telepathic lashes from Soundwave, and an oh-so-typical power balance that had always left both mechs and their cassettes able to walk away. Neither mech would wish to harm the other’s cassettes… That would just be wrong. By an extent, killing the other would be harming their creations, and thus their sparring continued, both knowing full well that neither wanted to offline the other… No matter how much they made each-other’s energon boil. Soundwave placed a solid kick to Blaster’s knee, bringing the orange mech to the ground for a moment. Blaster pushed himself forward from his crouch and grabbed Soundwave’s legs, toppling both mechs into the dirt. With a mutual distaste for prying stones from their armor later, both stumbled back to a stand and faced each-other again.  
“Is that all you’ve got, mech?” Blaster teased, he pretended that the other mech couldn’t hear his fast-cycling intakes.  
“Negative”, Soundwave grit back. For a moment, both mechs stared at one-another. Blaster grinned… Soundwave hated when he did that. 

Megatron snarled as he was shoved back. He stumbled for a moment, then regained his balance and hissed at the Prime. Optimus gave him hardly a moment before hauling back into the fight, using his immense frame to weight each strike. Megatron responded with the same desperate ferocity, doubled only by the biting hunger in his processing tanks. It had been so long since his troops had a decent re-fuel. They needed this victory so badly, their energon reserves were dwindling.  
“Step down, Megatron”, Optimus rumbled in his usual calm tone.  
“Give up, Prime”, Megatron hissed in response. The battle raged on. 

Ratbat glided over the fighting mechs. Dirt and pebbles were kicked up into the air from the action below, so he took care to stay nice and high. Ravage nudged him through the bond, reassuring himself as much as his youngest brother that the battle would be over soon. Ratbat had only witnessed a few fights before this one, he had yet to be physically involved. His primary task was keeping check on his brother’s positions and notifying Soundwave if any of them got hurt. He didn’t mind this job. The fighting seemed so scary and loud, he didn’t want to go anywhere near it. His carrier certainly didn’t want him to engage in it yet either, he was far too small. The tiny cassette focused his optics on Megatron and Optimus as they continued their fighting. Those two mechs were among the scariest of all during the fights. They were so big and loud, their armor crashed and crunched with every hit, dust flew up from their peds until the air around them was blotted out. Ratbat didn’t like that one bit, he chose to stay clear. He pinged Soundwave, watching as Megatron’s knees began to shake from exhaustion. It looked like the battle would be over quite soon. 

The ground sunk below his peds as he took another heavy blow from Prime. Megatron wrinkled his nasal ridge in a snarl, he tried to mask his increasing exhaustion with fury. Optimus Prime was also feeling the strain, he blocked another swing from Megatron then used as much force as he could to ram his fist into the other mech’s abdomen. The warlord buckled under the hit, the air from his intakes rushed out in a wheeze. Starscream bombarded his intercom with requests to retreat, they were losing. The hunger in his tanks drove him on just a bit further. He needed to feed his troops, he needed to win this battle and the resulting crude oil with it. Perhaps processed energon from Earth oils was not the most appetizing fuel, but it was something. In a final act of desperation, he pulled a long dagger from his subspace. It was rare that he ever used the old thing. A ghost from his days in the gladiator pits, it was not much longer than his forearm, but the crooked old blade had been buried in many chestplates before and it was lethal. Optimus hesitated as his optics flickered to the cruel blade, many times he had been sent to the med-bay thanks to that thing. His hesitation lasted for but a moment as he stepped back towards Megatron with intent to end the battle. Megatron reared the blade at Optimus, his fingers spread on the handle in preparation to throw it. Optimus saw this stance, recognizing it from the few too many times the blade had been thrown and lodged into his side or shoulder. He blocked the throw by slamming his arm against Megatron’s, sending the blade spinning to the side instead. The Prime almost had to smile at his fast response, glad to have that nasty dagger out of their exchange. Before anything else could be done, his energon turned to ice. He watched in dismay as Megatron’s face also morphed into an expression of shock. Mechs around the field paused mid-fight to listen. 

Six voices. No… Six screams. Energon curdling screams echoed around the field. Optimus Prime and Megatron locked optics for a moment before scanning their mechs for evidence.  
“Soundwave’s cassettes”, Megatron breathed. Rumble and Frenzy had frozen where they stood, both clutching their chestplates and screaming. Their optics flickered across the field in anguish as they searched for someone, something. Ravage had flattened his frame to the ground, his audios pinned to the back of his helm and his lips pulled back to bare a snarl. Buzzsaw and Lazerbeak had landed, they shook as they huddled to each-other, looking disorientated and crying out. Ratbat had landed next to Megatron. The small bat stared up at the two leaders with terrified, empty optics. His wings trembled and he looked back and forth between Optimus and Megatron. In a soft, shaky voice he whispered, “something feels wrong”. Megatron whipped his held back up to the side, finally realizing where his blade had been thrown. 

Soundwave stood shock still. Mud and dirt had been scrapped along his legs and back. Energon dripped down his frame, pooling in a fast-growing puddle at his peds. He stared down in bewilderment at his chestplates. Lodged in the center of his chest, perfectly dividing his docking station in half, was Megatron’s dagger. The telepath’s servos hovered midair on either side of the hilt, not quite sure what to do or how to do it; too shocked to do anything at all. Energon poured from his wound, his spark burned, his frame shook. He slowly looked up at Megatron, his mask and visor gave nothing away, but his trembling frame and overly bright visor displayed his horror. The only thought that crossed his processor was immense relief that Ratbat didn’t wish to be docked earlier. After a long moment of wavering on his peds, his knees buckled and he collapsed onto his back. Blaster stood next to him, his servos covered his mouth in terror as he watched his counterpart drop like a stone. He stared up at the two leaders with bright blue optics. Nobody on the field moved. Six voices screamed and cried without pause. 

Megatron watched as his most loyal mech fell, his own weapon embedded in his chestplates. A sudden rage filled his spark and he roared at the Prime, leaping back into their fight with more ferocity and benevolence than before. The two leaders continued their fight, none of the other troops did. Hook sprinted from across the field to where Soundwave had fallen, he ripped out tools and supplies as he did. He reached Soundwave first, then let out a relieved sound to find the mech still breathing. Hook would hesitate to call the rasping gasps coming from the telepath ‘breathing’, but hell, it was something, certainly much more than he had expected. He desperately began his work; his servos flew over Soundwave’s frame as he fought to stop the bleeding. With much care he removed the blade from Soundwave’s frame, before he could do it himself, two red servos put immediate pressure on the wound. Hook looked up at Ratchet, they made optic contact. Hook opened his mouth to shoo the opposing medic away but he was interrupted as Ratchet interjected.  
“He’s a father”, Ratchet hissed, “You need my help, don’t be vain”. Hook swallowed his pride and gave a curt nod, both medics worked together on Soundwave. 

Blaster hadn’t moved. His servos remained clutching his face, his frame shook. He felt a gentle servo squeeze his arm and glanced down at Jazz.  
“You good, mech?” the TIC asked gently. Blaster gasped and his vocolizer suddenly snapped back online with a spurt of static.  
“Primus Jazz, oh God it came out of no where”, he sobbed, “we were just fightin’ and he just- there was just- like it just appeared in his- oh primus”. His voice shook and he glanced back down to the blue mech. Soundwave was hardly visible with a team of medics and their aids crouched around his frame. “His babies!” Blaster interrupted his own thoughts, he desperately looked around the field for the cassettes. Jazz directed his gaze to Soundwave’s creations. They were huddled together in a pile, peering out at their father from just down the field. None of them moved in the slightest, most of them clutched their chestplates as they huddled and cried. Blaster’s spark ached watching them, Primus knows that this was his worst fear for his little ones.  
“He’ll be ok”, Jazz reassured his friend as he squeezed Blaster's arm, “Old Sounders’ is a stubborn thing, he wouldn’t leave his cassettes”. If only Jazz’s voice was reassuring as his words. 

Megatron was thrown onto his back again, he let out a winded snarl as he hit the ground for the umpteenth time. He looked up at Optimus Prime, who loomed over him. He then glanced at the pile of medics surrounding what he hoped was an alive communications officer. With a groan and a heave, he pushed himself back to his peds and glared at Optimus for a long moment.  
Finally, after a long pause he howled “Decepticons, retreat!”. The seekers were the first to go, they stormed into the sky at his command. The other Decepticons glanced again towards Soundwave before taking off after the seekers. Soundwave’s cassettes didn’t move, Megatron made no move to bring them. The warlord whipped to look at Optimus Prime. “You will regret this”, he hissed, “If he offlines I will-“. Optimus interjected in a cool tone, “I wasn’t the one that threw the dagger”. Megatron felt his cannon power back up at the insult, but with a growl and a glimpse towards Soundwave, he took off into the darkening sky. Optimus watched the Decepticons fly away, all but Soundwave, Hook, and his cassettes. His gaze flicked to the medics and then to the pile of shivering younglings, his spark sunk as he considered his role in creating this. Guilt clawed its way into his gut. Optimus knew full well that Megatron had thrown the dagger, he also knew that he was the one to knock it in an unfortunate direction. This was never the intention. 

Soundwave’s spark flickered. Ratchet cursed, he hated when sparks did that. Hook’s servos trembled as he tried to steady the repairs. Primus, there was so much energon, too much energon. The spark in Soundwave’s chestplates flickered again, dimming to a smaller and smaller size with each passing moment. “Primus, don’t do this” Ratchet whispered to Soundwave. He knew the telepath was unconscious but he urged him on anyways. “You have creations, you can’t leave them here on this dirt planet during this primus forsaken war! Primus mech have some gall!”, he watched as Soundwave’s spark flickered, the light shrunk with each rattled breath.

Soundwave wasn’t sure where he was. Was he dreaming? He couldn’t remember much… although he could certainly feel an agonizing burning in his chestplates. He gripped at his cassette docks, trying to source the pain. Everything looked in order and his docks were empty… Strange. A soft pool of light opened in front of him. The white light washed over his frame, it was warm, somehow soft and familiar. His optics reset and he stared into the warmth with a sigh. It smelled of summer, of warm days from his childhood so long ago, and something else. He took a step towards it, enticed by the warmth. It looked so soothing, so comfortable, it called to his aching spark to come and rest. He wanted nothing more than to follow it, to bask in the warmth and sleep. He was oh-so tired, and oh-so cold. Wouldn’t it just be lovely to rest? He took another step. “You have creations, you can’t leave them here on this dirt planet during this primus forsaken war!”, the voice echoed from behind him. Soundwave stopped, his peds planted where they where. Did he know that voice? It sounded so familiar, yet so distant, almost from a lifetime ago. The telepath turned around for the first time to see what lay behind him. His optics re-adjusted but were met only with an inky darkness. He felt his frame shiver, the pain in his chestplates kindled back to life as he stared into the void. This path was different, it was so cold, so lonely, and so, so long. He stared into the darkness for a moment, then turned back to face the light. He felt the warm wash of summer bathe his faceplates, his shoulders relaxed and his aching spark was soothed. He wasn’t quite sure where he was, but he knew which path he liked more. He smiled, perhaps it was time to go home, after all, he was in such need for rest. Perhaps this light could warm his cold, war-torn spark. Soundwave made his decision. He took a step towards the light, the summer, the warmth, the rest, but then he stopped. Something pulled at his spark. Unconsciously, he had placed his servos over his glass docking station. He stared down at his chest with a frown, his fingers stroking over the glass. He glanced back towards the dark… towards his cassettes, then sighed. He shuffled his peds back, knowing quite well that he couldn’t bear to go into this warm lovely place while his creations were stuck back in the dark. He sighed, his optics flickered back to the light, before offlining. He let the warmth brush by his face, he breathed in the summer air once more. Perhaps if he stood long enough he could warm his cold bones. After all, he had a long, long journey ahead, and he was oh-so very tired and oh-so very cold. Soundwave turned his back to the light and walked away. 

Ratchet hissed again as the spark faded and flickered. He glanced up for half a moment, taking in Blaster’s unmoving horror, the cassettes huddled together, Optimus Prime’s deep frown, and the other loitering troubled Autobots. “Come on,” breathed Hook, his servos desperately working to patch Soundwave back together, “come on, please”. As if called back to reality by Hook’s words, Soundwave’s spark roared back to life with a flash of light. The medics jolted back in shock, their work paused for a moment before leaping back to their duty. Primus frag it, this slagger really was as stubborn as his reputation. With a sudden flair in his field, Soundwave jolted up with a gasp. The telepath hardly made it up before a hoard of medic’s servos pushed him back down, a group of voices demanded that he lay still. Soundwave choked and gasped for air, then turned his helm to the ground and coughed up more energon than could ever be considered well. The medics continued their work, they had a new speed and frenzy in their servos, and a new hope in their minds. Soundwave stared up from the ground, his vision was fuzzy and distorted, although he could recognize the red and whites of medics. His vocolizer spat static as he tried to ask questions. The medics around him patted his shoulders and squeezed his servos as they worked, their voices could be heard through a wall of foam and distortion. There was an Earth-shaking pain in his chestplates, he felt dizzy, warnings flashed in his HUD so bright that it was almost all he could see at times. It was cold, it was painful, but Primus damn it, he was alive. He felt his cassettes reach out tentatively through their bond. With a rush of relief, Soundwave sent his love and soothing thoughts through to his creations. They responded with a flood of love, worry, and hope for him.  
‘ah’, Soundwave through to himself, ‘there is my light’. He glanced once more at the medics before his optics shut down and he dropped into a deep stasis.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope ya'll enjoyed this! Like I said before, there will be more chapters soon, so keep your eyes peeled for more if you're interested! Feel free to leave a kudos and comment! I love to hear your feedback. If you have any requests or are interested in an art trade, leave a comment and we can sort something out. For more info on art trades and requests take a peak in my profile description.


	2. The Visiting Light

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Soundwave wakes up in an unfamiliar place.  
> *mentions of flashbacks and nightmares to a near death experience*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Voila! The second chapter to this little story of mine!  
> These characters are not mine, I'm just playing with them. Enjoy!
> 
> Italicized text: dreams and memories  
> ::text:: : conversation through bonds
> 
> Warning: contains flashbacks to a near death experience and Soundwave being an introspective dork (again)

_The blur of red and white above him, muffled voices chattered together as they worked on his frame. His audios rang, his vision fritzed with static, the world swung around him in a dizzying sway. He couldn’t breathe, something deep in his chest spasmed and energon pooled in his mouth. Soundwave felt his frame shift as the was turned onto his side, his mask torn off by practised servos as he choked up energon into the dirt. Primus the pain, something seared in his chest, his spark wavered. It was so cold, he was so cold._

Soundwave sat up with a gasp. His frame was suddenly hit with a burning pain from his chest. He clutched his glass docking station, his vision blurred to nothing. Static roared in Soundwave’s audios until two strong servos rested on his shoulders and pushed him back to lay down. The telepath jolted at the touch but allowed the servos to guide him back. Soundwave shook his helm to help clear his senses, he could feel pillows being propped up behind him so he could sit up a bit better. Finally, his vision and hearing cleared. Soundwave glanced around the unfamiliar medical bay, then to the stabilizing systems and medicine drip we was attached to. He finally turned to meet the gaze of Autobot Ratchet. The medic stood next to his berth as he scanned the blue mech’s frame. 

“Welcome back”, he stated. Soundwave noticed how relaxed his posture was, the medic had his servos crossed across his chest plates as he spoke. However, the telepath noted how closed up Ratchet’s field was, perhaps he wasn’t as calm and collected as he wished Soundwave to believe. 

“You’ve been out for some time”, the medic remarked, he busied his servos in checking the equipment hooked up to Soundwave. With a hiss of static, Soundwave attempted to reboot his vocalizer. Nothing came out aside from a pitiful, static-laden warble, Soundwave winced. “Almost three days”, Ratchet answered the unspoken question. Soundwave re-set his vocolizer with a few clicks, his servos reached up and touched his mask and visor. “Don’t worry, I put your mask and visor back in place after operating on you” Ratchet added after watching the gesture. The blue mech gently moved his servos to trace over the middle of his chestplates, his fingers lingered where the blade had gone in. Patch work was evident enough; however, it was surprisingly neat and done with immense care. Ratchet watched as his unexpected patient rubbed over his chestplates, almost unbelieving that he was all in one piece. Finally, after a long moment, Soundwave’s vocolizer snapped back online. He looked up to the medic, his servos still resting over his cassette docks.  
“Query: Why?” Soundwave inquired. 

Ratchet stepped back from the medical equipment with a thoughtful hum. “I am a medic. War or no war, it is strictly against my coding to allow someone to bleed to death unassisted” he explained. 

Soundwave absorbed this and nodded stiffly. “Query: location of cassettes?” he asked. Despite the monotone voice, it was fairly obvious that there was a strain in his words.  
“Well taken care of,” assured Ratchet, “After the incident we made sure that the cassettes were settled safely with everything they needed as well as supervision. They have been in to visit you every day”. The medic avoided the details on how the last few days in the medbay had been nothing but tearful visits and bawling cassettes. He cleared his throat, but was cut off when Soundwave asked “Query: …why?”.

Ratchet snorted, a smile etched on his faceplates, “well, we couldn’t exactly leave the younglings out in the middle of no where. Hook didn’t know how to bring them with him as he left, they refused to leave your side”. Soundwave gave a puzzled frown behind his mask, why would leaving them out in the middle of nowhere be the only option? Hadn’t the Decepticons attempted to bring them back to safety when they left? He pushed the worries and questions from his mind for now. 

“Soundwave: wished to see cassettes” he said. Ratchet nodded, “I thought you might say that, I have already sent for them”. Soundwave let out a relieved breath knowing that there would be no issue in seeing his family again. Perhaps they were being held hostage, but the soft-sparked Autobots would at least let them see each-other. 

“How is the pain level?” Ratchet asked, he gestured to Soundwaves chestplates. Soundwave hesitated, his servos hovered above his glass as he looked down for a moment. _He struggled to breathe, energon poured from his chestplates as he stared blankly at the hilt of Megatron’s dagger. His spark burned, he felt his intakes fill with liquids._ Soundwave shook his helm to remove the memory. A chill crept along his spinal struts as he clutched his repaired plating. 

“Pain: tolerable” he answered. The term ‘tolerable’ was, perhaps, a bit of an understatement. His chest ached from inside to outside, each breath brought with it fresh streaks of agony. Nonetheless, if he let the medic know the pain level he might not be granted access to his creations. 

Ratchet nodded and jotted something on his datapad. He hadn’t missed a thing, nothing got away from Ratchet’s optics. He noted the random freeze Soundwave displayed as he stared at his chestplates. It was possible that some lingering fears and survivor guilt would be carried by the mech after that battle. He made note of it. 

A knock on the door directed both mech’s attention to the entrance just as six excited cassettes burst through. With shrieks of joy, all six cassettes clamoured up onto Soundwave’s berth. They stopped at the foot of the berth, their optics lingered on their carrier’s chestplates. Soundwave sent a gentle greeting through the bond, he let them know just how happy he was to see them. Ratbat, being the youngest and most in need of proximity, was the first to move. Tentatively, he crawled up towards Soundwave. He let his carrier lift him from the berth and cradle him in the crook of his neck. Once Ratbat felt the warmth radiating from his carrier, he knew that everything was going to be ok. He churred and affectionately nuzzled his creator, who clutched the sparkling tighter. Gradually, the cassettes picked their way up towards Soundwave. They took care not to lean on his chestplates or place too much pressure on the healing wound. Soundwave greeted each with a gently embrace and warm welcomes through the bond. 

After a moment of adapting, the cassettes let down their hesitant walls and climbed all over Soundwave, finding their usual spots to cozy up to. Ratbat stayed curled up in the crook of Soundwave’s neck, Lazerbeak and Buzzsaw each perched on Soundwave’s shoulders, Rumble and Frenzy curled up on their carrier’s lap, and Ravage pressed his side to Soundwave’s. 

::We missed you!:: the cassettes sent through the bond, ::We are go glad to see you awake::, ::When will we go back home?::, ::It’s really nice here!::, ::we have so much to tell you!::. The questions and messages bombarded Soundwave’s side of the bond, he accepted each message with a soothing burst of love and as many answers as he could muster. 

“That was real scary, Boss!” Rumble was the fist to speak aloud. The rest of the cassettes joined him in a unison of voices.  
“Yeah!”  
“It was so scary!”  
“I’m just glad you’re ok”  
“I’m glad you didn’t offline”  
“Primus Frenzy, don’t say that”  
“Well it’s true!”.  
Soundwave smiled behind his mask and listened as they chattered on to him. His servos gently smoothed down their dorsas in turn as he nodded and listened.  
“It’s been fairly nice here” Lazerbeak remarked. The other cassettes nodded at this. “Query: Autobots treat cassettes well?” Soundwave asked them. More nods from the cassettes set his spark at ease. 

“Yeah, they’ve been real nice” Rumble confirmed, “they feed us the nice energon, and let us play together, and let us visit you when we want”. Soundwave’s brow furrowed, what kind of hostage situation came with such freedom of choice? Soft-sparked Autobots indeed.  
“Yeah, and Blaster is super nice too, he lets us watch human TV in the mornings and play games with his cassettes” Frenzy added cheerfully. 

…what? Blaster? Soundwave felt his nasal ridge pinch at the idea of Blaster caring for his cassettes. As if on cue, a soft chuckle sounded from across the room. Soundwave’s helm snapped up to look at Autobot Blaster. The orange boombox was perched casually on a medical table, he winked at Ratchet and Soundwave.  
“Yeah, your little fellas have been a dream” he remarked in a friendly voice, “I think the hardest part of all of this will be separating them from my little guys after all is said and done”. Blaster was met with a cool expressionless mask and visor. Soundwave stared at him for a long, hard moment. This is the supervision given for his cassettes. His creations had been in the care of his own nemesis. Soundwave felt properly miffed. 

The silence and long stare from Soundwave dragged on until his cassettes jumped in.  
“He’s been super nice to us!” Rumble hurriedly explained.  
“Yeah, he takes real good care of us, you don’t need to worry” Buzzsaw added. The cassettes nodded their approval and tugged at Soundwave until he broke his gaze from Blaster. 

Blaster spoke up again, “I know you’re probably not jumpin’ with joy to know I was the one watchin’ over your bitlets” he started, “I would totally feel the same way if I was in your shoes. Although, I am the only bot here who actually knows how to care for these little guys, and they’ve been makin’ pretty good friends with my cassettes”.  
Soundwave nodded. Something in his gut still boiled, but he understood the reasoning. He glanced over his cassette’s conditions again, all seemed perfectly well and in place. If anything, they had better quality energon in their systems… all was in order. 

Stiffly, Soundwave turned to face Blaster again. “Soundwave: is grateful that you have taken adequate care of cassettes”. Blaster grinned and pointed a finger gun at him with a wink, “Any time, my mech”. Soundwave wrinkled his nasal ridge again, he was glad that he had the facemask to cover his grimace.

Some time passed as the cassettes rambled to Soundwave about their stay, Blaster’s cassettes, the energon goodies, and the awesome pranks they had planned for when they returned to the Nemesis. Soundwave smiled and listened to them, more than content in just nodding and holding them as time passed. 

Suddenly, a sharp pain jabbed Soundwave in his spark chamber. He clutched at his chestplates and gasped, his action instantly silenced his cassettes.  
“Boss?” Rumble asked softly, tilting his helm to the side.  
“I think it’s time you boys head back with Blaster”, Ratchet intervened. The medic made short work of scooping up the cassettes and delivering them back to Blaster’s waiting servos. The last cassette he went to retrieve was Ratbat, who was still clutched in Soundwave’s servos. The medic put out his servos to receive the sparkling, he gave Soundwave a gentle nod. It was time to say goodbye. 

“You can see them tomorrow morning” he assured in an unusually kind voice. Soundwave stared longingly at his youngest creation. Ratbat gazed up at him with big red optics. The telepath brought Ratbat up to his mask and placed a tiny little nudge from his mask on the sparkling’s forehelm; a mock kiss goodbye. Slowly, Soundwave placed his youngest in the medic’s waiting servos. Ratbat let out a little chirp as he was taken back to Blaster. 

Soundwave watched as Blaster accepted the tiny bat in his servos, he held Ratbat close and with a warmth Soundwave didn’t expect. “I’ll take good care of them”, assured the orange boombox. His voice was uncharacteristically soft as he promised Soundwave. Gradually, Ratchet shooed the group from his medbay, Soundwave watched with an aching spark as his cassettes waved goodbye and the door closed behind them. 

The gentle tingle of scans spread over his body as Ratchet worked to source the flair of pain. Soundwave silently watched as Ratchet adjusted the machinery he was hooked up to. The blue mech had nothing to say. Without his cassettes cuddled up to him the world suddenly felt so void again. He hollowly let the medic adjust his position to lay back down. The sudden urge to weep filled Soundwave’s throat, but he made no move to do so. He didn’t have nearly enough energy to cry. Soundwave watched as the medic worked around him, he could feel his systems shutting down for a recharge. 

“Get some rest”, encouraged Ratchet, “Your system needs it. You can see more of your cassettes tomorrow”. Soundwave heaved a sigh and let his systems power down for the night. Somehow he already knew that his sleep would be fitful.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope ya'll enjoyed this! Like I said before, there will be more chapters soon, so keep your eyes peeled for more if you're interested! Feel free to leave a kudos and comment! I love to hear your feedback. If you have any requests or are interested in an art trade, leave a comment and we can sort something out. For more info on art trades and requests take a peak in my profile description.


	3. The Discovered Light

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another day in the medbay is accompanied by a realization that Soundwave didn't want to make.  
> *mentions of flashbacks and nightmares to near death experience*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These characters are not mine, I'm just playing with them. Enjoy!
> 
> Italicized text: dreams and memories  
> ::text:: : conversation through bonds
> 
> Warning: contains flashbacks to a near death experience and Soundwave being an introspective dork (again)

It was no surprise to Soundwave that his sleep cycle was fitful. Despite his exhaustion, the telepath spent much of the night tossing about as he wavered in and out of nightmare laden recharges. In several occasions he woke to the empty and dark medbay with much disorientation. It took a few clicks for him to remember the eventful few days behind him. 

Soundwave’s time spent in recharge consisted of nightmares and jabbing chest pains. His time spent awake was focused on the longing desire to be with his cassettes and the lingering frustration with being held hostage. Somehow, around 3 AM, Soundwave was able to drop into a deep recharge cycle.

_Pain spread through his chest plates. Soundwave reached for the dagger but paused, unsure of what to do. A tight burning sensation spread through his spark like fire, every breath stoked the flames higher. With an agonizing groan, Soundwave looked down at his cassette docks. Everything froze for a long moment. Ice spread along his veins and tingled in his finger tips. Settled within his chestplates, perfectly split in half by the blade, was a small purple cassette. Soundwave’s intakes choked as he tried to scream. Sparks flickered from the wound as the cassette began to grey._  
“Ratbat!”, Soundwave sobbed, his servos meekly pawed at his chestplates. “No! Please! Not Ratbat!”, he frantically clawed at his glass, trying desperately to remove the trapped sparkling. All of the strength in his limbs was sapped away until he wavered and fell. Why did he offer to dock him during the battle? Why did he let him die?  
“Ratbat” Soundwave pleaded into the darkness.

Soundwave jolted from his recharge with a gasp. His servos clawed at the glass over his docking station for a moment. His optics adjusted to the dim room with a few blinks, gradually he let out a sigh and let the tension drip from his frame. The blue mech sat at the edge of his berth for some time, his servos continued to rest over his chestplates as his spark rate slowed back down. 

His optics took in the soft light as is began to pour from the windows. The sun was finally rising again, it marked the end to a night he was more than glad to be done with. Soundwave’s optics flickered back up to the machinery he was hooked up to. The fluid drip was almost empty, the system stabilizers seemed to be working fine. For a brief moment Soundwave considered unhooking the medical equipment and sneaking out to find his cassettes. Once all together they could break out and head back to the nemesis. He mulled the idea over in his processor. Considering that it was so early in the morning the halls would be relatively empty and perfect for a quiet escape. That being said, he had no idea which room was Blasters, and he certainly didn’t know if he would be able to get far without being connected to the medical systems. With a soft huff, he disposed of the idea. He would have to gather more strength before an escape was even remotely plausible. 

Soft ped-steps alerted the telepath to Ratchet’s presence as he entered the medbay. “You’re up early”, Ratchet observed. The tingle of passing scans spread across Soundwave’s frame again, he didn’t move. Ratchet hummed for a moment, looking over his scans before adding “you are looking good so far. You are healing just as fast as I could hope”. 

Soundwave watched as Ratchet fiddled with the machinery he was connected to. The fluid drip was replaced with a fresh bag, how wasteful to use up such precious resources on a hostage. Soundwave watched as Ratchet looked through the information on the system stabilizer, the medic hummed and jotted some things down on a datapad.  
“Restless recharge?”, Ratchet asked. His tone was casual, but Soundwave sensed a prickle of worry spread across the medic’s processor. How odd… To worry for the wellbeing of an enemy soldier. Soundwave’s visor dimmed and he responded with a simple “affirmative”. 

Ratchet hummed some more, he gently tapped at the machinery with his datapad stylus. “Your spark rate jumped up and down quite a bit through the night. Do you recall having any nightmares or thoughts that could increase your spark rate? Otherwise I will have to open you up and take a look… I wouldn’t want your spark to jump around like that without cause”. 

Soundwave stared at Ratchet for a long moment, he bit the inside of his cheek and with a soft glower responded, “Soundwave: had night-fluxes”. 

Ratchet nodded knowingly. He looked at Soundwave with sympathetic blue optics. “Many mechs feel a little haunted after experiences like the one you had”, he soothed, “give it time and you should be able to move past it”. Soundwave worked to keep his plating from flaring at the kind words. Who in the pits was this medic to treat him like a sparkling? Primus all these resources and kind words being spent on him just made his tanks curdle. Where these soft Autobots forgetting that he was TIC of the Decepticons? 

Soundwave took a long breath and blew it out slowly. He looked up at the medic before finally asking something that had bothered him all night. “Query: Why care for me to such an intense extent? What will Autobots have to gain from this?”. 

Ratchet raised an optic brow at the question, he placed his datapad back into a subspace and walked across the room. The medic returned with a cube of medical grade energon and held it out to Soundwave. The telepath stared numbly at the cube, Ratchet gave the cube a shake, gesturing for the mech to take it. With a sigh, Soundwave accepted it. 

Only after Soundwave took the energon did Ratchet answer the question. “Like I have already told you, I’m a medic. It goes strictly against my coding to abandon an injured mech, regardless of the circumstance. I won’t be satisfied with my work until you are stable and back on your peds… That is just my role in this world”. Soundwave watched him silently, the full cube still sitting in his servo. 

“drink”, Ratchet gestured at the cube. Soundwave schooled his frown back into a neutral expression before removing his mask and sipping from the cube. He had to admit, the energon sat nicely in his tanks. As he drank from the cube, Soundwave’s processor turned Ratchet’s answer over and over. The explanation, while truthful, just didn’t fill in the gaps of knowledge that really irked Soundwave. Why would the Autobots go out of their way to take him and his cassettes? Sure, caring for an injured mech was Ratchet’s duty, but why not let the Decepticons care for him? Why go out of their way to capture him and then spend all these resources to heal him? Wouldn’t it have been easier to step back and allow the Decepticons to take him and fix him? 

Before he could reiterate any of these questions to the medic, a knock at the medbay door pulled his attention away. A small click filled the air as Soundwave’s mask was snapped back into place. He placed the empty cube on the table next to his berth. All at once, ten hyper cassettes exploded into the room. Soundwave distantly heard Ratchet’s mortified groan as the medbay flooded with Soundwave’s and Blaster’s cassettes. Blaster followed the wave of younglings in, a chipper smile on his faceplates. His smile quickly turned sheepish when Ratchet berated him for bringing all ten of their cassettes at once. 

Joy filled Soundwave’s spark again as his six creations crawled up onto his berth and immediately all over his frame. Six happy voices yammered on at once, filling their creator in on everything they had done in the last day. Soundwave nodded and listened, his audios straining to take in every detail about the good energon, human video games, Blaster’s cassettes, colouring books, and how much they missed him. Soundwave pet and hugged each cassette as they joined him, he took a moment longer with Ratbat, assuring himself that his youngest was alive and well. 

Blaster and his four cassettes perched up on a berth across from Soundwave and his family. The unfamiliar cassettes smiled and waved when he glanced up at them. Blaster’s grin widened as he watched Soundwave’s cassettes chatter on and on to their creator. It warmed his spark to see them so happy again. 

Almost a breem passed as the cassettes babbled without pause, questions were asked faster than Soundwave could answer. Finally, exhausted from the excitement of seeing their creator again, and so comfortable to be in his presence, all six of Soundwave’s cassettes nodded off into light recharge.

“Primus”, the chuckle brought Soundwave’s attention back up to Blaster. The orange boombox shook his helm with a laugh, “they sure were thrilled to see ya’ again”. Soundwave gave a simple nod and agreed, “cassettes: tire easily after over-excitement”. He glanced across the room to where Blaster’s cassettes had dispersed. Ramhorn and Steeljaw sat on Ratchet’s desk, their optics followed his servos as the medic filed away data. Rewind and Eject were sitting on the floor, they were seemingly preoccupied watching a human game of baseball on a small screen. 

“So…”, Blaster started, his optics glanced around the room as he awkwardly looked for something to chat about. Soundwave’s optics dimmed behind his visor, he was never a fan of small talk, particularly not with this loud, boisterous, and seemingly reckless mech. “uh… how did you recharge last night?” Blaster finally settled on a topic.

Soundwave let out a soft huff and responded with deadpan honesty, “Recharge: fitful”. Blaster’s helm cocked to the side and concern coloured his optics. Soundwave just hated when Autobots gave him those empathetic optics, it made him feel like he was being viewed as a kicked puppy. 

“Sorry to hear that, mech. Anything you wana’ talk about?” Blaster asked gently. Soundwave snorted, “negative”. A smile pulled at the corners of Blaster’s mouth at the dead-end answer. “Can I guess?” Blaster asked, that playful tone slipped into his voice again. Soundwave loathed that tone. Soundwave heaved a sigh, doubtful that a simple mech like Blaster would ever be able to guess his fears. At least it would be amusing to see him try to guess… “Affirmative”. 

Blaster hummed and rubbed his chin, finally he made his guess. “Well, you got hurt pretty bad right here”, he tapped his own cassette docks, “and I notice that since you’ve been awake you have yet to put your little fellah’s in their docking compartments”. He gestured to the sleeping minicons on Soundwave’s lap. “Now I know that when my little guys are nappin’ they like to curl up in my docks, and I also like that because they are as close to me as they can get, and they are guaranteed safe there”. The boombox adjusted his position, then settled again as he got comfortable. “And I know just how scary it is to have little bitlets during the war, ya’ only ever want to keep them safe and happy. But if the safest place they could hide out in, your docks, was suddenly no longer seen as safe by you, then you wouldn’t want to hold them in there anymore… So, I think that you had nightmares all about your docks hurting your kiddos, or maybe a cassette being in your chestplates when you were hurt”.

A long silence spread between the two mechs. Soundwave felt insulted to his core, Blaster had really hit that one right on the helm. Soundwave bit his glossa and glared at his counterpart from behind a bright visor. “Autobot Blaster: … good at that” he grumbled. 

The telepath expected Blaster to jeer and laugh at him for his ridiculous fear, but the Autobot only gave him a warm smile and said “I totally get it, mech. The world is so big and scary sometimes, especially when you’re lookin’ out for your creations. All we really want is for the little guys to be safe”. Soundwave felt an odd warmth spread from his spark, he hastily stomped it back down. This strange mech had perfectly summarized how he felt about his time as a carrier in such a simple statement. Slowly, Soundwave gave a nod and said “Blaster: smarter than he appears”. 

The orange boombox grinned widely again, “thanks! I -uh-… I think”. Blaster leaned forward to get a little closer to Soundwave, his voice lowered to a soft murmur. Instinctively, Soundwave leaned forward to hear what he had to say. “Just between us, my mech,”, Blaster smiled, “I know you’re probably doubtin’ your ability to protect your little guys after all of this. But I think you’re the most capable mech to do so”. Both mechs leaned back into normal sitting positions. Soundwave’s optic brows raised behind his mask at the sincerity of Blaster’s words. Typically, he wasn’t fond of the pointless friendliness the Autobots gave him… But for some reason, Blaster’s words carried some more weight. Hearing another split-sparker’s opinion on the situation soothed over his worries, to an extent. All Soundwave could do was nod and say “Soundwave: grateful for Blaster’s reassurance”. Blaster grinned. 

It crossed Soundwave’s processor that Blaster may help bring some more clarity to his situation. Ratchet’s answers to his questions had been truthful, however sparse and simplified. Perhaps Blaster would bring some more light into this hostage situation and the intentions that came with it. 

Soundwave leaned forward again, Blaster mimicked him with a curious look. “Query: what is the purpose and premises of this hostage situation?” Soundwave asked lowly. Blaster’s optic brows shot up with surprise, “the what now?” he asked in a higher pitch than usual. Soundwave sighed and repeated his question, “Concern: Soundwave wishes to understand the meaning and goal for being held hostage”. 

Both mech’s leaned back to sit upright, blaster’s mouth worked but no sound came out. Finally, the orange mech let out a breath and gave Soundwave a concerned look. “Oh, geez, mech,”, he breathed, “I think there’s been some sort of misunderstanding here. We ain’t holdin’ you hostage, we’re just fixin’ you back up”. 

Soundwave blinked. He blinked again and his servo absent mindedly touched his mask. “Soundwave: not held hostage?” he repeated. Blaster shook his helm slowly. “Soundwave: free to go when desired?” he asked.

“Of course”, Blaster nodded quickly, “just so long as you’re strong enough to get back to the Nemesis safely”. Soundwave went quiet for a long moment as he thought everything over. The impressive medical care, the freedom his cassettes had, the kindness from everyone… He wasn’t a hostage, he was a patient being healed after an accident on the field. For the third time since his arrival, Soundwave asked “Query: why?”. 

“Well, Ratchet couldn’t just leave you there to die,” Blaster said softly, “I sure as pit couldn’t leave you there with your bitlets all alone… And just between you and I, I think Prime feels real bad about what happened. He didn’t intend to hurt you, it was a slip up, and totally not his style”. Soundwave’s helm nodded slowly. Again with this ‘couldn’t just leave you there’ response. Were these Autobots forgetting that the Decepticons would have cared for him if they hadn’t taken him? Soundwave paused, something lined up and clicked in his mind for the first time since his arrival. He re-played Ratchet’s and Blaster’s answers in his helm, the way his cassettes looked at him when they visited the other day, the memory of blurred medics working over his frame as he lay in the field. A foggy memory file finally snapped open for the first time. 

_He was on the ground, the medics hovered above him as they worked quickly to stop his bleeding. His chestplates burned with pain, his intakes filled with energon. Despite the ringing in his audios, despite the blur of darkness that began to overtake his vision, Soundwave heard something. Somewhere in the distance he heard a yell, “Decepticons, Retreat!”. Engines fired as his troops shot into the evening sky. The medics didn’t pause their work. The world went dark._

Oh… oh… He hadn’t been _taken_ by the Autobots, there had been no argument or fight over his bleeding frame. He had been, quite simply, left. Abandoned in the dirt to bleed out. The Autobots hadn’t captured him or taken him before the Decepticons could help… The Autobots had stayed behind to save his life as Megatron and the Decepticons left him to die. Even Hook only stayed long enough to hand him over to Ratchet’s care. Indeed, Soundwave realized, he wasn’t a hostage at all, he had been saved. His spark sunk. 

“You good, mech?”, Blaster’s soft voice was accompanied by a gently servo squeezing his shoulder. Soundwave jumped at the touch and leaned away. He watched as Blaster’s optics filled with understanding and pity, Soundwave didn’t want Blaster’s pity.

“Soundwave: needs some time to think”, was all he could say. The remainder of the visit was spent in solemn silence as Soundwave cradled his cassettes and brooded over his new realization.  
It was a bitter pill to swallow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope ya'll enjoyed this! Like I said before, there will be more chapters soon, so subscribe and keep your eyes peeled for more if you're interested! Feel free to leave a kudos and comment! I love to hear your feedback. If you have any requests or are interested in an art trade, leave a comment and we can sort something out. For more info on art trades and requests take a peak in my profile description.


	4. The Unexpected Light

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Megatron grows impatient as the second day of Soundwave's consciousness ends. Soundwave is given a new path to consider.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are with the fourth chapter! There are no warnings for this one! 
> 
> These characters are not mine, I'm just playing with them. Enjoy!

Mechs were getting increasingly successful at avoiding the throne room. No Decepticon dared to bother Megatron with any issue, big or small, unless they were ready to feel his wrath. Megatron had been known for his streaks of rage before, but never like this. On the first day of Soundwave’s absence, Megatron’s behaviour had been fairly typical, if a bit moody. By the second day the Warlord had taken to hissing and grumbling to himself as his internal frustrations began to boil over. By day three, mechs from around the base took detours half-way across the Nemesis to avoid the fits of aggression and rage blistering from Megatron’s every action. By the fourth day Starscream had been to see Hook several times for bent wings and cracked armor. Day five was upon the Nemesis and a chilling silence had settled upon Megatron. Somehow the silver mech’s recent stillness was the most terrifying behaviour.

The silence sat in the throne room like fog, no one dared to glance at Megatron for more than a moment. Those brave enough to peek at the mech were always greeted with the same, unmoving sight. Megatron sat upon his throne, his elbow rested on the arm of his chair and his cheek was resting upon his closed fist. His faceplates didn’t move from his dis-satisfied scowl and his optics never focused beyond their distant stare. Perhaps today would be a peaceful, quiet day. 

“Thundercracker”, the demanding rasp of Megatron’s voice shattered the tense air. Every mech in the room froze and glanced at the Warlord, whose position was unchanged. Were it not for the new fire in his optics some may have thought that they hadn’t actually heard him speak.

Thundercracker stepped forward, he tried to mask the tremor in his wings before asking, “Yes, Lord Megatron?”. Another long silence passed as the silver mech stared at him with intense optics. Thundercracker swallowed thickly and fidgeted under Megatron’s gaze.

“Pull the Autobots up on the communications, I wish to speak with their medic” Megatron spat the last word out with enough malice to make the seeker flinch. 

Thundercracker stared at the communications console with weary optics. The technology on the nemesis was outdated enough as is, but without the ever-working presence of Soundwave there, the communications systems had been shaky and dysfunctional at best. “I will… uh… see what I can do”, Thundercracker murmured as he tentatively approached the console. As if aware of his proximity, the wiring within the communications hub sprayed out sparks. The seeker stepped back in hesitation, but in hearing Megatron’s impatient growl thought better of it. 

After much fiddling and cussing, the communications console groaned to life again. Thundercracker flipped through a datapad to find the calling frequency for the Ark… how did Soundwave remember all of these numbers and frequencies by spark? After almost an hour of puttering and problem solving, the screen of the console lit up as it reached for the Autobots. 

“Finally”, muttered Megatron. Thundercracker bit his glossa to avoid snaking back at the temperamental mech. 

Gradually, the grainy image of Blaster, Optimus Prime, and Ratchet appeared on the screen. Megatron stood from his throne and paced over to the front of the console, he was fully aware when every mech in the room stepped far to the side to avoid running into his wrath. It made him smile.   
“Prime” he greeted in his typical hiss, “to what do I owe the pleasure?”. He watched as Ratchet scoffed and rolled his optics. Optimus’s optic brows raised as he responded in a calm voice, “I was about to ask you the same, considering that you called us”. Megatron bit the inside of his mouth as he tried to morph a murderous scowl into a (somehow more terrifying) smile.

“I am calling to ask about my Third in Command and his little drones” Megatron’s voice carried a new strain. He ignored the disgusted look that crossed Blaster’s faceplates, only another split-sparker would take offense to the term ‘drone’. 

“Soundwave and his creations are still in recovery”, Ratchet explained coolly, “he has only been conscious for little over a day and a half”.   
“He has been awake for a day and a half and he hasn’t returned to the Nemesis?!” Megatron roared, “that traitorous- “.  
“He is still in recovery”, Ratchet interrupted, “he has hardly been able to stand, he is in no shape to leave my medbay, and certainly no shape to fly to a war ship in the mid Atlantic”.

Megatron’s temper suddenly ignited for the first time that day. “I demand that you send my communications officer back this instant! I don’t care if I have to fly out there myself and drag him back! I don’t care about his state! Get my solider back to me by tonight!”. Every Decepticon in the room took a large step back at the outburst, their fields shrunk closer to their frames as they cautiously waited for the next spit of rage. 

“ _Your_ officer, _your_ solider” Blaster muttered under his breath, his optics glared off-screen as he masked his vehemence towards the Warlord.

“Demands and outbursts like that are precisely why I will not be discharging my patient to you yet” Ratchet chided, “the last thing Soundwave needs is to be dragged across the ocean and put back to work. I don’t think you grasp how badly damaged he was, but _your_ blade was successful in scratching the outer field of his spark. Injuries like that do not fare well when strained and stressed. The medical facilities and energon are much better here and so he stays”. 

Optimus Prime put up a servo to calm the bickering mechs. Megatron practically steamed under his plating at the commanding yet calm action. “We cannot withhold one of your troops from you, considering that this is not a hostage situation,” Optimus said, “while I recommend that we listen to and respect Ratchet’s words, as he is a seasoned medic, I will be giving Soundwave the ultimate decision in when and whether he leaves”. 

“Whether” Megatron spat venomously, “there will be no such ifs and maybes, he will return to me within the next three days or he will be marked as a traitor to the Decepticons and punished as such upon his return”. With that said he snarled at Thundercracker to shut down the communications line. The seeker fumbled with the console as he tried to decipher the best way to cut the line. 

“I will relay your message to him” Optimus said just before the line dropped off. Megatron boiled in rage, he despised when Prime got the last word in. A long silence stretched through the throne room. The Warlord turned to see his troops staring at him with uncertain optics. “ _well?_ ” Megatron growled. Every mech hustled back to his work, but the wisest glanced over their shoulder occasionally, just in case. 

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

Soundwave sat up with a choke. He clawed at his chestplates again for half a click before registering that he had been dreaming. The telepath let out a soft breath and tried to relax his frame, he just couldn’t shake the tremble from his systems. His fingers rubbed over the glass of his docking station, his chest still ached. With every spark-beat pain radiated through his frame, it made his tanks churn. Almost five minutes passed before the pain settled and he let out a soft sigh. 

Gently, with much stiffness in his joints, Soundwave leaned back to sit against his propped-up pillows. Despite the ebb in his pain level, he struggled to repress the shivers that jumped along his frame. 

A soft knock at the door made him perk, he sat up straight and a smile bloomed under his mask. When the door opened only Ratchet and Optimus Prime stepped in. Soundwave felt his spark tighten, he settled back against his berth. Typically a knock on the door resulted in a bombardment of cassettes and Blaster visiting for at least a couple of hours, he tried to hide his disappointment when it wasn’t them. Even if Blaster was annoying and chatty, it was nice to have someone to listen to. Sometimes the orange boombox even played music during the visits. 

Optimus watched as Soundwave physically wilted back into his berth when he saw them. It was subtle, but the larger mech noticed it none-the-less. It seemed that Ratchet also picked up on the unfamiliar mech’s body language, as he casually mentioned “Blaster and your cassettes will be visiting later tonight, we just had some things to review with you”. A single nod from Soundwave prodded them on. 

Optimus cleared his throat, a useless habit he had picked up from the humans, before slowly approaching Soundwave. The Decepticon tensed in the slightest, but relaxed more when Optimus pulled up a chair and sat in-front of his medical berth. 

A small pause stood in the room as Optimus watched Ratchet jump from machine to machine, monitor Soundwave’s levels, then trade out his medicine drip. 

“Before I even begin,” ventured Optimus, “I just wish to extend my most sincere of apologies. My role in your injury was entirely unintentional and I would never want you to think that any damage you sustained from that incident was from a place of malice”. Soundwave digested each of the Prime’s words before nodding slowly.

“I considered coming to see you when I first heard that you were awake” Optimus continued, “however, I assumed that you would desire some space so soon after the accident. I hope that this was the right decision. I do not expect any forgiveness from you, I just hope that you will accept my deepest apologies”.

Soundwave’s optic brows had risen from behind his mask, he observed the Prime in silence before selecting his words. “Soundwave: does not blame Optimus Prime for injury. Soundwave: felt guilt and pain in your processor when it occurred” he gently tapped his temple as he spoke. It astonished Soundwave how sincere and genuine the Autobot was being. The Prime had harmed an enemy solider, was that not a part of Autobot warfare? He had to suppress a snort at the sheer outlandishness of the entire situation.

Relief spread across Optimus’s field, Soundwave seemed so understanding. Of course, it only made sense that a mech with six creations would be well rehearsed in forgiving. “I am glad” he added, and he truly was. He filed a new piece of information about Soundwave away in his processor: The telepath was sympathetic… _kind_ even. He certainly hadn’t expected that. 

Optimus cleared his throat again. Soundwave tilted his helm in curiosity at the strange tic. “Now, there is more that brought me here to talk with you today” Optimus cautioned, “earlier this evening Ratchet, Blaster, and I spoke over the intercom with Megatron”. Soundwave perked at this, his visor brightened. 

A scoff from Ratchet turned both mech’s helms across the medbay. “If you could even call it an intercom anymore. The static and background noise was horrific” he muttered. Soundwave winced at the idea of how much repair work the communication systems would need after his absence. The mere idea of another mech trying to use those systems made him grimace. 

“Essentially,” Optimus started, “Megatron wished for you to return to the Nemesis as soon as possible, tonight even”. Soundwave’s processor swam with worry at the very idea of flying all the way over to the warship, his visor dimmed with anxiousness. 

“And as your medic, I won’t allow it” Ratchet piped up from across the room. Soundwave was humoured at the phrase ‘your medic’, was Hook not ‘his medic’? … well… perhaps not at the moment. 

Optimus chuckled softly before turning back to Soundwave, “the decision is entirely up to you, whether you go back in the next few days. Ratchet can explain the risks to you in detail once you two have more privacy, but it is quite clear to all of us that this would be a dangerous decision for your health”. Soundwave nodded numbly.

“Are you going to fill him in on Megatron’s little threat?” Ratchet muttered. Soundwave’s optic brows pulled down into a scowl at the word ‘threat’. Megatron didn’t threaten him, did he? Surely not after everything he had done and sacrificed for the cause and even Megatron himself? 

Optimus sighed, “of course”, he turned to look at Soundwave, his optics were sympathetic for the blue mech. Soundwave was too worried about the concept of a threat to be frustrated with more sympathetic Autobot optics. “During our conversation with Megatron, he made it clear that he expected you back on the Nemesis within the next three days, otherwise…” his voice drifted off as he tried to select his words carefully. 

“Query: Otherwise?” Soundwave prompted. 

“Otherwise, you would be deemed a traitor to the cause, and punished as a result”, Optimus finished in a regrettable voice. Furious cursing carried through the medbay from Ratchet, but it fell deafly upon Soundwave’s audios. 

Traitor? Punished? Soundwave had never before had those words used towards him from Megatron. He slowly sat back, allowing his dorsa to be supported by his propped pillows. “Megatron: views Soundwave as …traitor for staying through healing process?” he breathed. A small nod from Optimus. 

“It is up to you to decide on your next steps” Optimus said gently, “as far as I see it, you have four possible options… One: Leave before three days, understanding the risks, and hope to get back to the Nemesis safely. Two: Let one of our flying mechs, likely Skyfire, shuttle you back part way and then complete the end of the journey yourself. Three: Ignore Megatron’s threats, finish healing here and return to the Nemesis when you are stronger, also considering the risks. or…”. The Prime trailed off again before finishing his last option, “or… four: finish healing here then disband from the Decepticons, to stay with us”. 

Soundwave’s processor reeled frantically. Disband? Primus the very concept made his spark clench! He turned to Optimus, his visor brighter than usual. “Query: explain reasoning behind idea of leaving Decepticons?”. 

Optimus nodded, knowing quite well that this possibility would evoke surprise from one of the most loyal Decepticons. “Ratchet and I spoke about this earlier. We do not expect you to select this path, as it is only an option, however the offer does stand. This would not mean that you would be expected to become an Autobot, rather you could become an ally, or even a neutral, so long as you understood that no unofficial contact would be had with the Decepticons. Prowl was actually the one to bring this possibility to my attention, so I thought it would be wise to extent it to you. As far as Prowl sees it, each of the three other options carries with them great risk for your own health, wellbeing, and family. These risks all extend exclusively from Megatron either demanding your immediate return, or intentional harm brought to you in the case you do not return fast enough. Placing an injured mech in this type of situation is neither humane nor civil, and I am a firm believer that a mech should only be as loyal to his cause as the cause is to him”.   
Soundwave swallowed thickly as his processor flicked back to the insult and betrayal of the Decepticons abandoning him and his cassettes only a few days ago.

Optimus continued, “given the dangerous situation that Megatron is purposefully placing you in, we wish to extend a formal offer of protection for you and your children. You would _not_ be expected to wear our insignia and colours, nor would you be expected to agree with our philosophy, you would just have to accept the status of a true neutral. If it was discovered that you were aiding the Decepticons from here there would be consequences. With the status of a neutral you would be welcome to stay and live in the ark with the rations given to neutrals and other survivors of war. If you wished to earn more rations, for stocking or other uses, you would be permitted to work under contract in areas of your specialization, such as communications and tech repair. If desired, you could also join the Autobots, which would give you more work and a higher income of rations. Of course, the rations given to neutrals is more than enough to live comfortably for you and your creations. You do not need to feel obligated to this decision, it is only one option of many. However, we do hope that you make the best decision for the wellbeing of your family and yourself”. 

Soundwave was quiet for a long time. He carefully picked through the information given to him and sorted it out in his helm. The stinging betrayal of Megatron’s threats still burned in his mind, he dismissed it for the moment. 

“Soundwave: wishes to consider options more fully. Query: may the decision be made later?” he asked. 

Optimus Prime nodded understandingly, he stood from his seat and stretched his frame for a moment. “I understand that this is a large decision to make. Please take your time in making it, as much time as you need. The only deadline you have is the one Megatron put in place” he said. Soundwave nodded his thanks as the Prime left. 

Soundwave’s processor reeled, he sat in silence and listened to Ratchet write out documents at his desk. There was much to consider, he honestly had no idea where to start. More than anything Soundwave wished to dismiss the worries from him mind and see his cassettes again, at least for the moment. 

A knock came from the door, it perked Soundwave up immediately. Blaster’s horned helm stuck through the entrance, he wore that typical smile on his faceplates. Soundwave’s audios picked up the soft giggles and bickering of his cassettes in the hallway. 

“Hey! I hope we aren’t interrupting anything?” he asked, glancing from Ratchet to Soundwave. The medic gave a silent permissive wave of his servo, not even bothering to look up from his reports. Blaster’s smile widened and he opened the door, unleashing six jubilant cassettes into the medbay. The cassettes climbed up to see their carrier, and Blaster took his usual seat on another berth across from Soundwave. The blue mech genuinely smiled for the first time that day. Somehow, he knew that everything was going to be all right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope ya'll enjoyed this! Like I said before, there will be more chapters soon, so subscribe and keep your eyes peeled for more if you're interested! Feel free to leave a kudos and comment! I love to hear your feedback. If you have any requests or are interested in an art trade, leave a comment and we can sort something out. For more info on art trades and requests take a peak in my profile description.


	5. The Thoughtful Light

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another Day in the Medbay passes as Soundwave considers his options. Blaster weighs in as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are with the fifth chapter! There are no warnings for this one!
> 
> These characters are not mine, I'm just playing with them. Enjoy!

Soundwave had never been much of a claustrophobic mech, he was typically comfortable in small spaces, he always had been. However, spending the last three days confined to the medbay was beginning to make him antsy. The telepath spent much of his time staring with longing optics out the windows, he spent far too long thinking about how the wind would feel on his plating and the sun on his faceplates. He was anxious to get back outside, or even just out of the medbay. 

Soundwave sighed and shifted his optics from the sun-streaked windows back down to his datapad. Much of his day had been spent huffing and glaring at the datapad, with occasional breaks to stare outside. Every few minutes he would pause and jot something down onto his growing pros and cons list. Another note was added to the list of pros as Soundwave let out a soft hum. 

In a behaviour that was so stereotypically Soundwave, most of the telepath’s big decisions in life were placed in a datapad long before they were ever acted upon. Many of his scribbles and mental battles had been saved away on one datapad, he rarely re-read them, but it was amusing to reminisce sometimes. The newest edition to Soundwave’s datapad was an ever-growing pros and cons list for how and when to get back to the Nemesis. 

The ruby visor flicked over his notes again, he reviewed his options. A) fly back in the next two days and hope for the best, B) get shuttled part way back in the next two days… also hoping for the best, C) Stay on the Ark for more than two days and return to the Nemesis healed but likely to be pummelled shortly after, and D) Defect from the Decepticons and stay on the Ark. 

As far as Soundwave saw it, the least desirable option was C. While it would be nice to stay on the Ark until fully healed, the consequence of his return would only become more and more dire with each passing day. A shudder ran up his spinal struts at the threats Megatron had directed towards him. If those threats were followed through with Soundwave would likely leave one Medbay healed only to be placed back in another one shortly after. A small part of his processor did not wish to accept the reality that his own commander would lash at him in such a way. Something boiled in the pits of Soundwave’s tanks, he dismissed it immediately and moved on. 

Option A was also unattractive and even more implausible. On the third day of his healing Soundwave could hardly stagger a few ped steps from his medical berth, the idea of flying back to the Nemesis boggled his processor. Not to mention, he would have to carry his cassettes in his cassette docks for the long journey. Not only was Soundwave still battling his own discomfort around using his docks, he also knew he wouldn’t be strong enough to carry his family to safety. The resulting flight would likely be cut short from exhaustion or a strained spark, a crash landing would be likely, and a fall into the Ocean would be a death sentence. 

Option B seemed more realistic, that much was certain. Being shuttled part way to the Nemesis would help him get within a realistic flying distance. This option certainly had a longer Pros list than A and C. Soundwave could get back on time to the Nemesis, avoiding punishment or anger from Megatron, he could likely make it from the edge of their territory back to the ship unharmed (if a bit strained), and he would be back to the Nemesis where things made far more sense. Despite the numerous pros, Soundwave’s optics lingered on the equally long list of cons. He would still have to travel a decent amount from the drop-off zone back to the ship, with only the ocean to catch him, his return to the Nemesis would mean return to immediate work, the very idea of being back to work in two days when he could hardly stand was… intimidating. On top of that, Soundwave could not be certain if Megatron’s rage would be perfectly extinguished upon his early return, would the Warlord still decide to take his residual anger out on him? Not long ago, Soundwave would have never considered the possibility, but with the newest uncharacteristic threats, the telepath didn’t know what to think. His return to the Ark would also mean return to low-quality energon which always left him hungry, certainly that wouldn’t help his already devastated energy levels. Most importantly, with his return to the Nemesis, and thus his return to work, Soundwave would be bringing his cassettes back to that … hostile… environment, while still too weak to defend them. There were many mechs on that ship who had experienced nasty pranks curtesy of his twins, typically the mere presence of Soundwave was successful for warding any attacks. Now? He could hardly stand, who would be afraid of him? Who would hold back? The thought of bringing his cassettes back to the Nemesis virtually unguarded poured ice into his veins.   
Soundwave glared at the last option. The pros list stretched far beyond the list of cons, much to Soundwave’s exasperation. He let out a huff, glaring at the lengthy list of pros: He could heal up without a rush, his cassettes were much safer here, the energon was of good quality and quantity, the mechs were kind to his creations (although certainly soft-sparked), he wouldn’t be immediately returning to continuous lengthy work shifts that gave him no time to relax with his cassettes, there would be no threat from Megatron hurting him if the Warlord couldn’t get to him, his cassettes had built friendships with Blaster’s cassettes (their very first friendships with other younglings!), the list went on. He glanced to the list of cons: he would have to relinquish his title in Decepticons, some Autobots may be suspicious of his presence for the first while, and if he left the Decepticons and Megatron found him one day… well… he didn’t even know what the Warlord would do to him. The usual treatment for traitors was death. Soundwave wasn’t sure if his long history of undying loyalty would make his treatment better or worse if he ran into Megatron. Optimus Prime’s words ran through his processor again, “a mech should only be as loyal to his cause as the cause is to him”. Well, the Decepticon cause certainly hadn’t been loyal to him in the last few days, first they left him in the dirt to die and abandoned his cassettes with enemy troops. Then Megatron called, not to see if he was alive, but to demand him back to work despite his state. Something boiled in Soundwave’s tanks, he shuddered with some emotion, he couldn’t figure out what. Fear? Frustration? No… 

Before Soundwave could place a thumb on his emotions, a blanket was draped over his shoulders. The telepath jolted out of his thoughts and stared up at Blaster with a bright visor. 

Blaster smiled at the blue mech, something uncertain was carried in his optics. “Sorry, ‘Wave. Didn’t mean to startle you like that, you were totally zoned out there,” Blaster said as he hopped back up to sit on another berth, “you were shakin’ a little, I assumed you were cold”. 

Soundwave gripped at the blanket around his shoulders, it was nice and warm, he pulled it tighter around himself. His processor lingered for a moment on the nickname, he wasn’t sure if he approved of it or not. “Statement: thank you” he said softly. 

The telepath looked around the medbay, which was once again (much to Ratchet’s horror) filled with cassettes. Everyone had come for a visit earlier, as usual the first hour of his family’s presence had been happy talking, displays of recent art work, and games of “guess what we did today?”. Typical to their habits, the cassettes had worn themselves out and were now lazing around the medbay, simply content to be in their creator’s presence. Rumble and Frenzy were perched up on Ratchet’s desk, playing some sort of human card game with Blaster’s twins, Lazerbeak and Buzzsaw seemed content as they preened each other’s plating, Ravage was curled up on Soundwave’s berth, fast asleep, and Ratbat was recharging contently in the crook of Soundwave’s neck. Steeljaw and Ramhorn were busy exploring the crooks and crevices of the medbay. 

Soundwave glanced back at Blaster, the mech in question was observing him quietly with thoughtful optics. Soundwave fidgeted under the un-usually intense gaze and diverted the attention elsewhere. “Cassettes: have been a servo-full?” he asked, his helm tilted to the side as he spoke. 

“Not at all, my mech!” Blaster grinned, “they’ve been great. Sure, the first few days were a little rough, but now that you’re up and they are getting along with my bitlets, it’s all good from here”. Soundwave smiled under his mask, he could tell that his cassettes would miss Blaster’s after their departure… well, if they did leave. He frowned again and his visor dimmed. 

Blaster frowned softly as he watched Soundwave, he looked… tense. The orange boombox had to pause for a moment, was he actually getting better at reading Soundwave under that mask? The very idea made him smile a little. Blaster shimmied forward to the edge of the medical berth before asking, “I don’t want to overstep or anything, but you’ve been real quiet today… more than usual I mean, and you seem kinda’ tensed up, is everything okay?”. As he finished his question he placed a gentle servo on Soundwave’s shoulder to give a comforting squeeze. 

Soundwave gave an irrepressible flinch at the touch, his visor focused on Blaster’s servo for a long moment before it was cautiously retracted. A long silence stretched between the mechs, Blaster blinked for a moment, it was almost awkward. 

Soundwave stared at Blaster for a long moment, his visor was particularly piercing. Finally, he gave a nod and explained, “Soundwave: has been worrying about next step from here. Duty to Decepticon cause: requires quick return to the Nemesis. Return to Nemesis: contains many risks for my own health as well as safety of cassettes. Soundwave: disturbed by threats from Megatron, and uncertain what to do next”. He finished his explanation with a weary sigh and dropped his helm into his servos. 

Blaster instantly reached out a servo to comfort the mech, but in remembering Soundwave’s previous flinches and jumps, pulled his servo back. “Awh, ‘Wave,” he murmured, “I’m sorry to hear about that, I can’t imagine how hard that decision must feel. I gotta’ admit, I was pretty cheesed when Megatron had that little threat tantrum. You’ve always been so loyal to him, you must feel let incredibly let down”. 

Soundwave looked up at Blaster, his servos worked the Blanket tighter around his frame. Somehow Blaster had perfectly summarized what he was feeling… again. Soundwave never would have imagined Blaster to be so… attentive, certainly not this empathetic. All he could muster was a glum nod, before asking, “Query: if you were in this situation, what would your choice be?”. 

Blaster sat back with a hum, he scratched his chin in thought before speaking, “well, as far as I can see it, your reason for heading back to the Nemesis would be loyalty and duty, and stayin’ back here would be for your own wellbeing and your kiddo’s safety. I don’t want to dis your duty or anything, but why would you want to return to a cause that doesn’t treat you right?”. 

Soundwave’s visor brightened for a moment, his field flared with annoyance before he pulled it back in and schooled his expression. “Decepticon cause: treats Soundwave better than anything else did before the war” he reiterated, “Autobots: continually insistent that my cause is disloyal to me, or doesn’t treat me well enough, but this cause treats me far more humanely than the system ever did before it came along”. 

Blaster held up his servos, he gave a regretful look as he soothed, “ok ok, I didn’t mean offence or anything… I didn’t know that. I just- I can’t wrap my processor around how Megatron talked about you, that’s all. He always drags on about how you’re one of his most loyal troops and faithful officers and stuff, but when you get hurt he didn’t even stay to see if you were going to survive! I mean how many times have you run out into open fire to safe that mech’s aft, and the one time you get really knocked down he runs away, leaving you and your kids with us. I just… I know you’re trying to repel a system that oppressed mechs for being certain classes, builds, or statuses, which is great! Trust me, we definitely don’t want to return to the same system as before. Don’t you think that Megatron has changed… just a little… since all of this began. I mean, he used to insist that all mechs should be treated equally with respect and liberty and all that, and now he’s the top dog and how does he treat his own troops?”. 

Soundwave swallowed thickly, his helm drooped to look at his peds. Another bitter feeling gathered in his chestplates as coolant gathered in his optics. Why was this all so _frustrating_? He bit the inside of his mouth and blinked rapidly, once again he was incredibly grateful for his mask. 

Blaster watched Soundwave wilt and immediately regretted his choice of words. Perhaps it wasn’t the best timing to bring up flaws in a loyal mech’s cause when he was still stuck in a medbay. “Er- uh, look,” he started, drawing Soundwave’s gaze back up, “I don’t want to make you feel pressured by what I personally think, I just want you to make the best decision for yourself and your little guys… And I kinda’ have a feeling that you know what that is, you just don’t want to admit it.” 

Soundwave thought back to his list of pros and cons, one option in particular stuck out as the best… objectively speaking.

“And I mean, pits, you’ve been so incredibly loyal to old Megsy since like, forever. If he can’t handle you recovering where it’s best, why should you continue to stick your throat out for him? At least… it’s something to think about” Blaster added. Soundwave nodded slowly, digesting Blaster’s thoughts. 

“Besides… If I’m being perfectly honest, I kinda’ would like you to stay here for more -uh- selfish reasons”, Blaster added sheepishly. Soundwave looked up at him with confusion, a silent prompt to explain. Blaster continued, “Well, it’s been real nice havin’ another boombox around the Ark, you know? It’s certainly nice to have another music lover around as well. My friend, Jazz, is also super into music, but our tastes can clash at times. I feel like we are way more in sync. Also, our bitlets are getting along so well! It would almost feel wrong to separate them, it’s so nice seeing them making friends of the same age!”. 

Soundwave felt himself smiling again, he nodded and agreed, “Blaster’s company: has been much enjoyed last few days. Cassettes: seem very happy here”. Blaster smiled at him warmly, nothing else needed to be said. Soundwave leaned back in his berth and looked at his datapad again… There was much to consider. Blaster had given some interesting points, he added them to his lists. 

Soundwave glanced out the windows of the Medbay again, he had much to think about.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope ya'll enjoyed this! Like I said before, there will be more chapters soon, so subscribe and keep your eyes peeled for more if you're interested! Feel free to leave a kudos and comment! I love to hear your feedback. If you have any requests or are interested in an art trade, leave a comment and we can sort something out. For more info on art trades and requests take a peak in my profile description.


	6. The Realizing Light

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Soundwave finally steps out of the medbay for the first time since his arrival. A spark-to-spark conversation leads to something unexpected.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are with the sixth chapter! There are no warnings for this one! If anything it's a little fluffier than usual! 
> 
> This will probably be the last update for a few days. I will be spending the Easter weekend visiting with family and friends, so I won't have time or space to write. I will post again early next week! Have a great weekend. :)
> 
> These characters are not mine, I'm just playing with them. Enjoy!

It was strange how something so simple could become a novelty once it was taken away. Soundwave braced himself with a servo on his berth as he stretched, he was finally on his peds again. The simple novelty of being able to walk across the medbay was a thrill to the blue mech, it was so much nicer than being berth-bound for the last four days. Soundwave rubbed at his cassette docks, he let out a soft hum. He certainly didn’t feel back to normal yet. Even just a few circles of the medbay left him tired and sore, but it was something! 

Ratchet watched with attentive optics as Soundwave wandered shakily around his medbay. It was not the first time he had seen a patient walk around with no goal or place to be. It was always interesting to see mechs pace and circle, almost for entertainment, after being stuck off their peds for days. Ratchet smiled to himself before looking back down to the tools he was cleaning. 

A soft knock on the door pulled Soundwave’s mood up even more, the sound of chattering cassettes in the hallway thrilled him. 

Blaster’s helm peeked in, “knock knock!” he called. His smile immediately grew when he saw Soundwave standing across the room, “hey look at you!”, he laughed, “You’re back up on your peds! That’s amazing”. Blaster could tell Soundwave was smiling by the way his helm and shoulder were pulled together. 

Ten cassettes streaked past Blaster’s legs with giggles and shouts. Ratbat immediately cuddled into his creator’s arms, Lazerbeak and Buzzsaw landed on Soundwave’s shoulders, Ravage rubbed past Soundwave’s leg, and Rumble and Frenzy grinned up at Soundwave from the floor. 

“Lookin’ good, boss!” Frenzy grinned, “yeah, we should play a game!” Rumble added. All ten cassettes gave excited nods at the idea of a game. 

Soundwave smiled down at his creations before saying, “Soundwave: too weak to play a game. Suggestion: in place of game, perhaps a walk?”. He glanced up at Ratchet and Blaster as he finished his question, Blaster nodded at the idea, Ratchet hummed thoughtfully. 

“A walk around the base may help your systems stretch out a bit,” murmured the medic thoughtfully, “just don’t strain yourself, if you feel tired or sore come back immediately”. Soundwave smiled, maybe he would finally be able to get out of this damn room for the first time in what felt like forever. 

Blaster smiled with a nod, “sounds like a great idea ‘Wave, and I can show you around the base while we are at it! It’s been quiet on the base today, so we should have a decent amount of privacy from the others. Of course, if we do run into some of the others they’ll know you’re not here for any foolin’ around or anything”. 

Blaster was right, no Autobot on the base could ignore the boisterous new presence of Soundwave’s cassettes… especially Rumble and Frenzy. The twin minicons had already made quite the reputation for themselves within their short time on the Ark. 

It was quite the scene, two boomboxes walking down the hallway followed by an army of miniature cassettes. The cassettes bounced and ran about the hallway behind their creators. Soundwave was thankful that the hallways were empty, the tiny parade they were making was certainly a spectacle. 

“While we are on this little pleasure cruise, how about I show you around the base?” Blaster asked with that playful tone rising in his voice. Before Soundwave could accept or deny the tour, Blaster was already on it. 

The orange boombox posed with his arms spread open to reveal a wildly under-whelming door. “Right here we have the public washracks,” his voice morphed to take on a comical sales-mech’s character, “these semi-private showers are pleasant after a hard day’s work, however many of the officers… including yours truly… have their own private washracks in their quarters”. The walked on. 

Soundwave shook his helm with a snort, “Blaster: trying to advertise Autobot base to me?”. 

Blaster grinned over his shoulder to see Soundwave’s disgruntled carrier pose, servos on the hips and visor dimmed with scepticism. 

“I have no idea what you’re talkin’ about, mech” Blaster laughed. They walked further down another hall before Blaster struck the same silly pose. “Here we have our state-of-the-art shooting range,” he grinned as he opened the door for Soundwave to peek in. Soundwave leaned forward despite himself to see into the room, it certainly was nice, especially in comparison to the Nemesis. 

The tour continued through the base, Blaster showed Soundwave the recreation room, sparing gym, science labs, and communications hub. They had to stop in the communications room as Soundwave refused to leave. 

“Are you silently geekin’ out, or something?” Blaster teased his counterpart, giving him a playful nudge. 

Soundwave didn’t remove his optics from the hub as he said “Autobot base: fully equipped”. It certainly was. The quality of the communications hardware was astounding, it was fully updated and rather modern for a civil war. Blaster really got to use all the bells and whistles for his role as communications officer. Soundwave felt a dusting of envy colour his field. 

“It’s nice, right?” Blaster grinned, he could tell how impressed Soundwave was. Perhaps it was silly, but a part of his spark convinced him that this might help sway Soundwave to stay. 

Soundwave hummed with admiration, he let his optics take in the advanced machinery. Maybe one day he would be able to work with such beautiful equipment. He shook the idea from his helm immediately, no need to pitter on silly fantasies. 

“Can we go now?” Eject called from the door. The cassettes stood in a huddle, watching their carriers with unamused optics. 

“Yeah, it’s boring here” Rumble agreed, “lets go back to the shooting range!”. The cassettes yelled a variety of excited agreements. 

Blaster chuckled at the hoard of excited cassettes, he shook his helm fondly. While the cassettes were prattling excitedly among themselves, Blaster turned to Soundwave and asked in a quiet voice, “how ya’ feelin’, ‘Wave? Think we can make it back there or are ya’ thinkin’ we should start back to the medbay?”. 

With a soft hum, Soundwave touched his chestplates. He was a little bit sore, but it was nothing like the biting pain he had been experiencing over the last few days. He was certainly beginning to feel the tug of exhaustion, “Status: moderately comfortable, but my energy is increasingly low. Suggestion: walk back in direction of medbay using longer route?”.

“Sounds like a plan” Blaster winked and began ushering the mound of creations out of the communications hub. 

The first mechs that the group ran into were Prowl and Jazz. Jazz grinned from down the hall and gave an animated wave, Prowl gave a more subdued nod of his helm. Before they were even within talking distance, Blaster and Jazz began shouting cheerful greetings to one another. Soundwave and Prowl both subdued their optic rolls. 

“Hey fellas!” Jazz beamed as he gave some of the cassettes pats on their helms. The cassettes grinned up at the couple, they knew that Jazz was one of the mechs who occasionally gave them energon goodies. 

As the cassettes dispersed along the hallway to entertain themselves (knowing Blaster and Jazz, it would probably be a long chat), the adults shared their greetings.  
“Well, look who’s up on his peds and everything” Jazz smiled at Soundwave, “good to see ya’ up and runnin’. Ah’ honestly didn’t know if you were gonna’ make it”.

“Jazz…” Blaster chided in a soft voice, he almost sounded pained at the idea. 

“Ah’m just kiddin”, Jazz shook his helm, “we all knew you were too damn stubborn to kick the bucket yet, didn’t ah’ tell ya’ that Blast-mech?”. 

Soundwave smiled behind his mask and gave a soft nod, “Soundwave: wasn’t certain of ability to recover either. Autobot medic: incredibly skilled”.

“Primus mech, you’ve said it” Jazz laughed, “old Hatchet is a jewel, a real jewel”. With a sudden brightness in his optics Jazz gasped, “oh! Blast-mech ah’ gotta’ talk to you about somethin’ super urgent!”. In one swift motion the saboteur muddled Prowl towards Soundwave, “Make friends, play nice!” he teased his mate before dragging Blaster off down the hall. 

Soundwave blinked at Prowl. Prowl blinked at Soundwave. This was… awkward. Certainly, at an arm’s distance the two mechs seemed fairly similar, but having the shared trait of being astonishingly quiet may not exactly be the correct trait to provoke conversation. Finally, after a long, unintentional staring contest, Prowl said “good to see you up, Soundwave. You certainly took a hit”. 

Soundwave nodded stiffly before responding, “Statement: I am glad to be up”. Another long silence stretched between the two mechs. 

Prowl swallowed thickly and glanced past Soundwave to look at Jazz, who was talking animatedly with Blaster. Soundwave glanced over his shoulder to watch the two friends chatter before turning back to Prowl, “Blaster and Jazz: certainly know how to talk”. 

His observation earned a snort from Prowl, “the number of times I get stuck in the hall watching them chat is astounding”. The two mechs shared a soft laugh. Before the silence set in again, Soundwave settled on a topic “Query: have you read anything interesting lately?”. 

Prowl smiled at the blue mech, “actually, I have.” 

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

“Awwh, look at our nerds chattin’ away over there” Jazz crooned, he placed a servo over his spark chamber. 

“They actually do look like they are hittin’ it off, don’t they?” Blaster mused before pausing, “the pit do you mean ‘ _our_ nerds’?”. 

Jazz snorted and gave Blaster a sceptical look, “Blast-mech, don’t even try to kid me with that. Ah’ can sense a crush from miles away, and when ah’ see one ah’ know it”. 

Blaster stared at his friend with incredulous optics, “crush? What’s that supposed to mean?”. 

“It means that you got the hots for a certain mysterious blue mech… ya’ know? The telepath? Do you want me to be clearer?” Jazz grinned as he waggled his fingers.  
“Mech,” Blaster shook his helm with a grin, “you have really gone around the bend with this one”. He let out a surprised laugh, “I hardly even know the mech, a week ago we were tryin’ to strangle each-other!”. 

“And yet ya’ liiiike him” teased Jazz, he prodded jokingly at Blaster’s sides. He only grinned wider when Blaster swatted his servo away, “and now yer getting’ moody ‘cuz you know that ah’ know that you liiike him”. 

“Primus,” Blaster shook his helm, “I’m not gettin’ antsy because I like him, I’m gettin’ antsy because he’s a telepath and you could give him the seriously wrong idea”. He gave Jazz a playful nudge and watched as Jazz’s smile grew more devious. 

“Whatever you gotta’ tell yourself, Blastmech”, Jazz teased, “but that doesn’t exactly explain how ya’ keep randomly brinin’ him up in every conversation we’ve had since he woke up. It also doesn’t really explain why you’ve been schedulin’ in every visit with his cassettes so you can be there as well. You could easily just drop the little guys off, but ya’ choose to stay and chat with Sounders’ anyways”. 

Blaster snorted and rolled his optics, “you’re losing it” he muttered to his friend. 

“Sure, Mech. But until ya’ stop givin’ him those puppy optics every time ya’ see him, I have yet to be convinced” Jazz grinned wider. 

Blaster shook his helm at him, “You’re seein’ things. Have you considered that maybe you just think we would be a cute item or somethin’? It’s probably just in your helm”.  
“I dunno,” teased Jazz, “do you think you two would be a cute item?”. That one earned another scoff from Blaster. Jazz didn’t mention how Blaster’s faceplates flushed the tiniest bit, although he did make note of it, it would be great ammo later. 

“I gotta’ get ‘Wave back to the medbay” Blaster changed the subject. Jazz tried to reel him back in with “have we already moved on to pet names?”. Blaster stuck his glossa out at the shorter mech and walked back over to Soundwave and Prowl. It was hard to miss Jazz’s laughter behind him. 

“Ready to head back?” Blaster smiled at Soundwave. Soundwave gave a small nod before sharing his farewells with Prowl. He decided that he liked Prowl. The tactician seemed very intelligent, perhaps with time they could foster a friendship. He immediately dismissed the idea from his helm, he wouldn’t be able to build friendships with Autobots, he would be back on the Nemesis soon either way. 

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

The cassettes were sleeping again, to nobody’s surprise. Ratchet had finished cleaning his equipment and after setting Soundwave up to monitors and an IV drip, had retired to his berth for the night. Blaster and Soundwave sat across from each-other on separate berths, as usual. Each mech had a pile of dozing cassettes on their lap. The sun streaked through the windows as it disappeared bellow the horizon for the day. It was peaceful. It was also worrying. The sunset officially marked the end of day two since Soundwave received Megatron’s threats. He now had one day to decide on his path. 

It was as if Blaster had read the very thoughts from his mind, “so… one more day”. Soundwave failed to suppress a sigh as he turned back to the orange boombox. He gave a drained nod. 

If anything the last two days had only proven to make his decision harder. The longer Soundwave stayed on the Ark, the more he didn’t want to leave.

“Do you have a game plan?” Blaster asked softly. He watched as the blue mech mused over his question for a moment before shaking his helm. 

“Soundwave: is not certain yet. If anything else: Soundwave is more confused” he admitted. Blaster nodded with understanding. 

It was a hell of a dilemma to be put in. It was a hell of a dilemma for Megatron to place upon his still healing shoulders. Soundwave glared at his servos as something bitter churned in his tanks. He still could not tell what it was, but the feeling had lingered ever since he heard the Warlord’s demands. 

“I’ll be worried about you, once you head back home” Blaster admitted in a soft voice. That was it. The kind spoken words acted like a spark, they lit something inside of Soundwave that he hadn’t felt in a very long time. 

Rage. It was rage. For the last two days it had sat there, boiling in his tanks and mind like sludge. Now Soundwave knew. He wasn’t hurt that Megatron had abandoned him, he wasn’t upset or disappointed or angry, he was blood-boilingly _furious_. After everything he had done for the mech, for the cause, everything. He had sacrificed so much, he had risked everything he had for a mech that ran as soon as he was injured. Now Megatron wanted him back. Not because he admired, cared, or even worried about his Third in Command, but because Soundwave would soon again be _useful_ to him. 

Soundwave shook with rage as he thought about it. This whole time, eons wasted bending backwards for a cause that paraded around preaching of equality, care, and revolution. The same cause wouldn’t even look twice at him when he fell. He was angry enough that Megatron had left him to bleed and die in the dirt, but he could accept that. What really made him shake and spit was the fact that Megatron willingly left behind Soundwave’s creations, his _children_ with enemy troops. Soundwave knew how lucky he was that the Autobots were merciful, there were many mechs in the universe that would have killed his unguarded creations on sight. 

Soundwave’s rage boiled down to a sickly feeling in his tanks, his processor swam with hatred and scorn for the cowards that turned tail and left him and his family when they were vulnerable. He couldn’t count the number of times that he had run out to drag an unconscious or injured Megatron off a field. The one time he got knocked down, Megatron left. He just _left_.

Finally, all of Soundwave’s rage and all of his hatred boiled down to a grand climax. Without a glance at Blaster, Soundwave’s frame went shock still, then without a word he put his helm down in his servos and cried. 

Blaster didn’t move. He stared at Soundwave with huge optics, completely lost for words. “Oh gosh, oh jeez, ‘Wave” he prattled, glancing around the medbay for something. In an instance he made it across the room to retrieve a blanket. He perched on the side of Soundwave’s berth and gingerly draped the blanket over the telepath’s shoulders.  
Soundwave desperately clutched the blanket tighter around his frame. He was very aware how bizarre his sobs sounded through his vocoder, but he just did not care. 

“hey, hey now, it’s ok, it’s all right”, soothed Blaster. He reached out a servo to comfort Soundwave, but then slowly retracted his servo in remembering the blue mech’s previous jolts and stares when touched. 

The pile of cassettes on Soundwave’s lap stirred, but didn’t wake. They frowned in their sleep, feeling the residual distress through their bonds. 

Soft clicks sounded though the air and Soundwave buried his faceplates into the bunched-up blanket. It took Blaster a moment to realize that the clicks came from Soundwave retracting his mask and visor. Interestingly, the metallic, monotone sobbing disappeared and was replaced by regular cries and sniffles. Blaster blinked… Soundwave’s un-mistakable monotone, it was from a vocoder in his mask! Primus this entire time he had thought that Soundwave just had a war-damaged vocolizer. Blaster couldn’t see any of Soundwave’s faceplates, the telepath had done a good job of concealing his face with the bunched blankets in his servos. 

Finally, after a long moment of sniffles and whimpers, Soundwave leaned towards Blaster. The orange boombox was certainly surprised by this. For a mech who seemed to stray from contact from anyone but his creations, Soundwave almost seemed to be reaching out for physical support. 

Instinctively, Blaster wrapped an arm around Soundwave’s shoulder and gave a comforting squeeze. “Hey now,” he crooned, “it’s gonna’ be ok ‘Wave, we’ll figure something out, all right? Whatever you want, we can make it happen. If you wana’ go back to the Nemesis we can give you a ride back to the drop-off point, if ya’ wana’ stay, we will give you a place to live. It’s all up to you, promise”. 

The sniffles from the blue mech began to subside, he stayed silent and still, he continued to lean into Blaster’s embrace. The orange mech was warm, and his voice was very soothing. While Soundwave was mortified that he had just bawled like a sparking in-front of Blaster, he was glad to be comforted in such a kind way. 

Blaster’s arm around Soundwave pulled back just the slightest to rest on his dorsa. He then began gently rubbing at Soundwave’s back, which felt… very nice. The telepath sighed softly and allowed the contact, it was pleasant. Somehow Blaster made it enjoyable. 

Soundwave kept his face hidden as he silently wiped the tears from his face. His mask and visor snapped closed again before Blaster could see a thing. The two mechs sat together for a while, Blaster’s servo continued to soothe other Soundwave’s dorsa. Soundwave added another mental pro to his list for staying on the Ark: Blaster was a friend. Somehow, Soundwave knew he would miss Blaster if he left. It would be nice to have a friend like Blaster. For the first time since his awakening, Soundwave didn’t shake off the idea of staying. He couldn’t help but feel that things were beginning to fall into place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope ya'll enjoyed this! Like I said before, there will be more chapters soon, so subscribe and keep your eyes peeled for more if you're interested! Feel free to leave a kudos and comment! I love to hear your feedback. If you have any requests or are interested in an art trade, leave a comment and we can sort something out. For more info on art trades and requests take a peak in my profile description.
> 
> See you folks after the weekend!


	7. The Paving Light

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The third day since Megatron's threats arrives, Soundwave needs to make his decision.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to chapter number 7! I had a little break over Easter weekend, so I am back with another update. Also, I am pretty sure this is my longest chapter yet!  
> These characters are not mine, I'm just playing with them. Enjoy!
> 
> Italicized text: dreams and memories
> 
> Warning: contains flashbacks to a near death experience as well as light mentions of past abuse

Soundwave’s systems onlined slowly that morning. The telepath sighed and stretched his frame as he glanced around the medbay. It was empty. Soft light washed in through the windows, it bathed the blue mech’s plating in a comfortable warmth. Today was the day Soundwave had to make his choice. By the time the sun dropped below the horizon, he would either be back in the Nemesis with all the risks and woes that possessed, or in the Ark with his family and the official mark of a traitor. Soundwave swallowed thickly, his spark seized at the thought. Today was the fork in the road he had never wanted to meet. 

For the first time since his awakening, Soundwave could not recall having any nightmares through the night. No images of a blade in his chest sat upon his processer, no irrational terror for an injured cassette haunted his thoughts. Regardless, a distant dread continued to perch within his spark, Soundwave considered it probable that he did have nightmares through his recharge, he just couldn’t remember them. Considering the last few nights of dark thoughts and endless tossing and turning, it was an improvement, regardless of the small steps. 

The weight of lingering nightmares continued to sit in Soundwave’s field like a fine dust, perhaps the best thing would be to shake it off. With a soft groan, Soundwave pushed himself up in his berth. He kicked off his berthsheets and turned to let his legs dangle over the edge of the berth. Soundwave let his systems cycle up gradually as he drank the medical grade energon Ratchet had kindly left next to his berth. He finished the cube quickly and placed it on the table as his optics scanned the medbay for something to do. 

Perhaps some exploring would be interesting, Soundwave mulled over the idea as he eased himself onto his peds. It would be nice to indulge his curious nature by poking around the empty medbay. Certainly, he wouldn’t go looking into classified or private things, he was just attempting to distract his mind from the worries this particular day carried. 

With a yawn, Soundwave stretched his frame out. A few clicks and pops sounded as joints and struts eased back into place. Oh the joys of old war injuries, some of them just never healed properly. Soundwave rolled his stiff shoulder a few times before setting off on his latest diversion. 

There was certainly much to look at in the medbay. Ratchet kept the place in pristine order, Soundwave made sure to return everything as it had been before. His optics glanced over locked cabinets of medicines and tonics, his servos examined tools and replacement parts. The telepath fiddled curiously with the windows, he was overjoyed to find that they could be slid open by just a fraction. He leaned into the small opening to feel the cool breeze from outside. The fresh air felt so good in his intakes after being harboured inside for days on end. A few minutes passed in which Soundwave relaxed by the window with closed optics, breathing in the late morning air. 

The windows were closed and locked again before the blue mech moved on to his next puzzle. A large set of drawers stood before Soundwave, he examined them curiously as he rubbed his mask. After some consideration, Soundwave let his curiosity get the best of him, and he opened up one of the drawers. His optics were met with stacks of medium boxes, they were closed tightly with fitted lids and labelled with names. It didn’t take long for Soundwave to conclude that they were patient files. Out of sheer interest, Soundwave followed the list of names down in alphabetical order to the ‘S’ section. Sure enough, Ratchet had even made a ‘Soundwave’ file. 

The box was considerably new compared to the other files, his name was printed neatly on the lid. It would certainly be a breech of privacy to look into someone else’s files, however, looking into your own files was typically allowed. For a moment Soundwave considered that it would be wise to ask Ratchet’s permission to peer thought his own file, but his boredom and desire for a distraction won him over. 

Soundwave perched on a medical berth with his box. It took some prying, but eventually the lid was removed and placed to the side. The first thing Soundwave reached for was a small stack of datapads. He onlined one of the pads only to be met with a coded password. Never to be swayed by a small roadblock, Soundwave took the password as a new game, and spent the next ten minutes overriding the datapad to gain momentary access. 

With a soft hum, Soundwave paged through the information. He had to admit, he was beyond impressed. Ratchet was diligent, that much was certain. The medic had noted every spark-rate, mood-shift, and bout of pain Soundwave had experienced since his arrival in the medbay. There was even some information noted that baffled Soundwave, the medic had to be incredibly observant and diligent in his note and pattern taking. 

‘7:28 AM: Soundwave startled awake. Did not report nightmares, but it is likely. Note: watch sleeping patterns for a few more nights and discuss with Soundwave next steps to take (therapy, sleeping aid in energon, time, etc.)’.

’3:13 PM: Soundwave winced and gripped chestplates. Did not report pain. Note: look into spark rates at this time later. Consider: possibilities of ghost pains starting in future’

‘5:32 PM: Soundwave woke from brief nap to visit with cassettes and Blaster. Energy levels seemed high after visit. Note: encourage more rest and visits with cassettes to promote better energy and healing.’ 

Soundwave was beyond impressed with Ratchet’s effort. Clearly, he was a medic who loved and thrived within his work. The tiniest observations and trends were noted to the minute, suggestions and possibilities were written after each entry to consider the best treatment and recovery options for Soundwave. The work of the medic surpassed that of a high work-ethic, rather it landed in an area of true compassion and genuine care for his patients. The fact that Ratchet had written long-term healing and recovery plans for Soundwave, despite the likelihood of his leaving, was incredibly thoughtful. 

With an astonished shake of his helm, Soundwave set the data reports on the medical berth next to him. Soundwave looked into the box and murmured with surprise. Settled into the box was a replacement mask and visor, specially made to match his own set. The telepath traced a finger over the ruby visor in admiration, it was impeccable. Ratchet must have taken an exact print of Soundwave’s mask and visor while they were off for the heavy repairs in his first few unconscious days in the medbay. 

Carrying a spare mask and visor was something that medics used to do for their patients in the early days of the war. If a soldier had a crack or break in their visor, they could simply go to their medic and receive a new perfect copy right away. That way, if a mask or visor were damaged or lost, the mech didn’t have to wait hours for a replacement to be fit to their faceplates. It was something that considerate medics had once done, when resources were readily available, but certainly not for opposing soldiers.

Gratitude filled Soundwave’s spark as he traced the mask and visor. It was such a simple gesture, but it truly outlined how much Ratchet cared for his patients. Perhaps it was even more touching to Soundwave, as he knew that even the most loyal Decepticons didn’t get such a treatment. He had spent many hours sitting in a medbay as a new mask and visor were fitted to him, especially when resources began to run thin. Soundwave smiled and finally reached in to pick up the replicated mask and visor. He turned them over in his servos with a soft smile. How kind of Ratchet, how very considerate. With warmth budding in his spark, Soundwave turned to place the spares on the berth next to him. His optics flicked back into his file to see what else was left.

The warmth evaporated from his spark. The smile dropped from his faceplates and his visor brightened with fear. Sitting at the bottom of the file, loosely wrapped in medical gauze, was Megatron’s dagger. Soundwave made a soft gasping noise as he stared at the blade. He wanted to look away, but for some odd reason, Soundwave just couldn’t move. His optics were fixated on the blade, almost hypnotised by the memory attached to it. 

_His spark burned, something was wrong. Soundwave looked down to his chestplates and stared in bewilderment at the handle of a dagger. Energon pooled at his peds, he could hear his creations screaming in fear. With shaky servos, Soundwave reached for the handle. He stopped, frozen in place. What could he even do? Pulling it out would make it worse without a medic. He swayed on his peds, then looked up. Blaster stared at him with bright optics and his servos over his mouth. Megatron watched in surprise, his empty servo extended in Soundwave’s direction, a clear sign of where the blade had come from. Hook was running from across the field. A sickly feeling spread through Soundwave’s frame, his fingers went numb, static filled his helm. He swayed for a moment before feeling his knees buckle. The drop was over in an instant, but the harsh landing on the dirt floor knocked out what little air remined in his intakes. Medics swarmed his vision, blocking out the skies. His optics flickered, the world spiraled into darkness. He was so cold._

Soundwave gasped and jolted back. He fled from the berth, his file flew from his servos and clattered to the floor. The piled datapads and spare mask followed suit and crashed to the floor, covering the blade. Soundwave stood on the other side of the medbay, his servo gripped his chest plates and he stood doubled over and supporting himself on a table. Pain burned in his spark, fear bubbled up in his tanks as Soundwave lowered his helm to rest on the cool surface of the table. He offlined his optics for a minute, he focused on settling his ragged breathing. 

Finally, after a long moment, Soundwave stood back up. He made wary steps back towards his piled-up files on the floor. Gingerly, the telepath knelt down on the floor, his optics observed the heap of items warily, as through expecting something to jump out and bite his servo. Pain continued to burn in his chestplates as he shakily packed everything back up. He placed the blade into his file first, his optics watched the ceiling to avoid looking at the blade again. The mask and visor were carefully returned to the file, placed in a way to cover the dagger completely. The datapads were piled back on top and the lid was fastened back in place. A deep thankfulness filled Soundwave that nothing had been broken by the fall. That would be challenging to explain. The box was gently returned to its drawer, Soundwave eased it back so slowly that it could have been mistaken for a live bomb.  
Finally, Soundwave dragged himself back to his medical berth and pulled his blankets over his helm with trebling servos. He felt silly, almost like a sparkling, for hiding under his covers. However, there was something so comforting and warm about hiding away from the world in such a manner. He wished that Blaster was with him. The orange mech was always so good at lifting his moods. Eventually, before he even noticed how tired he was, Soundwave dropped back into a deep recharge.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

The telepathic presence of three mechs woke Soundwave from his sleep. He groggily sat up and pulled the blankets around his shoulders. His visor glanced around the room before settling on the door as it opened. Ratchet, Optimus Prime, and Blaster walked through the door, they greeted Soundwave with nods and “good afternoon”s. Soundwave’s systems worked to recalibrate after such a long recharge, he nodded at the three mechs, still half asleep. 

Blaster smiled at Soundwave. He had clearly just woken up, his visor was dim and he kept glancing around, clearly a bit disorientated. The fogged up, groggy behaviour was almost endearing. Blaster had to dismiss the urge to run over and hug the sleepy cassette player. 

Ratchet pulled three chairs over next to Soundwave’s medical berth, Soundwave took this as cue to swing his legs back over the side of his berth. Blaster, Optimus, and Ratchet each took a seat in-front of Soundwave. 

Ratchet was the first to speak, “Good afternoon, Soundwave, I hope we didn’t wake you”. He didn’t wait for Soundwave’s response before continuing, “As you know, today is the third day since you received Megatron’s expectations for your return. Considering that you are on a good healing path, and seemingly stronger each day, I am willing to discharge you as my patient. I do not think there is much else I can do for you here; your systems have been stable and your recovery is coming along very well. With continued rest and fueling with medical grade energon, you should probably heal up completely within the next Earth month. Some lingering side effects may continue, especially within the realm of mental stressors and ghost pains. We can discuss these things in full once you have decided your next steps from here. While I do not think that returning to hard and constant work in the Nemesis would help you at all, I am no longer able to hold you here as an intensive care patient. Regardless of your next choice, I expect that you will be having weekly check-ins with a medic, continued use of medical grade fuel, and that you won’t be pushing yourself too hard in labour, war, or work”. Ratchet finished his explanation with a curt nod. 

Soundwave nodded understandingly to the medic, his optics were pulled to Optimus Prime. “If you wish to return to the Decepticons,” the Prime began, “now would likely be your safest time to do so. Any day beyond this one would be ignoring Megatron’s threats. The choice is completely yours, I just hope that you choose wisely”. 

Soundwave had to ignore the frown that spread across Blaster’s faceplates as Optimus spoke of his leaving. Something unnamed tugged within his spark at the look, he had never seen Blaster look so deflated. 

“The offer continues to stand, however, for you to relinquish your title as a Decepticon and join us here in the Ark as a neutral, ally, or Autobot”, Optimus added, “what ever your final decision is, we will do whatever we can to accommodate for it”. 

Soundwave nodded slowly, his processor span. He had to decide today, he had to decide _now_. Primus, he had spent the last few days obsessing over his options, but the actual time to make his choice was upon him. The telepath glanced back and forth at each mech before him. Ratchet watched him quietly with interested optics, Optimus Prime patiently waited with those understanding Autobot-blue optics, and Blaster returned the look with a soft smile. The orange boombox failed miserably to hide the forlorn look in his optics. 

The four possibilities swam in Soundwave’s processor, his mind became muddled with all his choices and what they carried. He swayed just the slightest and suddenly felt horribly lightheaded. The sure servos of a medic braced Soundwave’s shoulders and steadied his swaying. 

“Primus, kid,” Ratchet muttered, “don’t go passing out on us”. Blaster and Optimus had also stood from their seats, watching Soundwave with concerned optics as he attempted to stabilize himself. 

After a long moment, Soundwave looked up at the group and said, “Query: May I get some air outside with Blaster?”.

“Yeah, might be a good idea to get some fresh air in his systems”, Blaster nodded, he looked at Ratchet. 

With a soft hum, Ratchet nodded and let go of Soundwave. “Fine, but if he looks unstable or dizzy, bring him back right away”. 

“Of course”, Blaster smiled and offered a servo to Soundwave, “shall we?”. Soundwave accepted the servo. 

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~  
They walked silently for some time, they did not stop until the Ark was a looming figure sitting upon the horizon. The two mechs sat on the sand and leaned against a rocky outcropping. Neither spoke for a long moment, they just watched the sun settle closer and closer into the evening.

Blaster was the first to break the silence, “pretty hard choice you gotta’ make, can’t blame ya’ for wanting to get outside”.

Soundwave nodded, the fresh air certainly was helping to clear his helm. “Earth environments: can be enjoyable”, he admitted.

They sat in silence for a few more minutes before Soundwave spoke, “statement: this decision is probably one of the hardest I have had to make”. Blaster hummed knowingly, he smiled at Soundwave with kind optics. 

“I don’t doubt it, Mech”, he murmured. He reached out a gentle servo to comfort his new friend, but watched as the blue mech flinched away again. He frowned and retracted his servo. A long moment passed as Blaster searched for the right words to say. “Can I ask ya’ somethin’?” his voice was softer than usual. When he received a nod from Soundwave he continued, “why is it that whenever I try to touch ya’, you’ jump away like I’m gonna’ hit ya’? You know I’m not gonna’ do that, right?”. 

Soundwave sighed softly, “Flinches: unintentional, nothing more than reflex. Reactions: not personal, I do this with many mechs”. He glanced over at Blaster and watched at the orange boombox frowned in confusion. 

“Can I ask why?” Blaster prodded gently. After a long silence, Soundwave nodded. 

“Blaster: cannot share this information with anyone”, Soundwave said pointedly. He continued when Blaster nodded vigorously. “Soundwave: …uncomfortable with most contact from other mechs. Flinching began: before war, during my time spent as a slave in Koan”. 

A soft intake from Blaster made the telepath pause, “you were a…” Blaster breathed. Soundwave nodded. The orange mech’s optics filled with worry as he waited for Soundwave to continue. 

“Soundwave: was not born into slavery. Soundwave: born into poverty in the slums of Koan. My remaining family: died from disease and starvation long ago. Soundwave: can hardly remember them. Soundwave: captured as youngling and sold into slavery markets after the demise of my family”. The blue mech sighed softly, his visor looked like it was focused on some far away memory. “Soundwave: was not created with slave coding. Lack of coding: resulted in my rebelling and attempts to escape from pervious masters. Soundwave: was a hard slave to keep, especially once I reached adolescence. Defiant behaviour: lead to many times being re-sold to new masters. Some masters: took it upon themselves to… break… the more difficult slaves”. 

His voice trickled off to nothing and Soundwave sat completely still for a long moment. His plating was pulled in tight to his frame, a sure sign of his nervousness. His red visor suddenly turned to focus on Blaster. “Soundwave: has bad memories. Bad memories: result in flinching when touched by others. Soundwave: hopes you can forgive me for seeming to not like your presence, the flinches are unintentional and not because of you”.

Blaster nodded quickly, he swallowed thickly and cleared his throat. His rapid blinking hinted at the orange mech’s empathy for Soundwave. “I.. I don’t even know what to say, ‘Wave. Please don’t feel bad, you don’t have to apologize or anything for jumpin’. I’m sorry that I assumed it was personal”. Soundwave nodded, his helm tilted towards Blaster with a hidden smile. 

“Soundwave: doing better every day” he assured gently. Blaster nodded and blinked back more sentiment.

“Do -uh-, do you mind if I ask how ya’ got your freedom?”, Blaster finally asked.

Soundwave smiled, it was certainly an interesting story. “Soundwave: was in late adolescence when purchased by a new master. Senator Ratbat: was the last mech to own Soundwave”. 

Blaster’s brow furrowed at the familiar name, “Ratbat,” he breathed, “like your bitlet?”. 

Soundwave nodded, “Ratbat: named after the Senator”. He continued, “Senator Ratbat: was against slavery. The Senator: would purchase slaves from the most dangerous markets or the most abusive masters and would offer to give them a new life. Options were: leave right then as a free mech, or work in Senator Ratbat’s manor for fair wage and receive an education from his private tutors. Soundwave: chose the latter option and stayed with Senator Ratbat for a few years. Ratbat: helped Soundwave get cleaned up, gave Soundwave an education, and allowed Soundwave to select area of specialization. After years of working for Senator: Soundwave left to pursue a higher education. Soundwave: earned a scholarship and entered advanced communications studies. After graduation: Soundwave worked as communications officer on Cybertron. Ravage: was created not much later. Life: was much better for a while. However: conflicts continued on Cybertron, and Soundwave discriminated against for lower class status, telepathy, and optics. Megatron: came to power shortly after”. He concluded his explanation with a sigh and a pleased nod. 

Blaster was struck mute. He nodded his helm slowly and stared at Soundwave. He searched blindly for something to say before mindlessly blurting “You’re amazing”.  
Soundwave let out an amused snort at Blaster’s reaction, he shook his helm. “Soundwave: lucky” he concluded. Blaster had to resist grabbing Soundwave and shaking him back and forth. He shook his helm with a laugh. 

“Primus mech, it sounds like you’ve been through pits and back, and here ya’ are. I’m just- I’m sorry that ya’ had to go through all of that, but I am so impressed by your resilience. Seriously, mech, look at how far you’ve come”. He habitually reached out to squeeze Soundwave’s shoulder, but he paused, his servo hanging in the air.  
With a hidden smile, Soundwave scooted closer and took Blaster’s servo. He gently looped the orange mech’s servo over his shoulder and let it rest there. Blaster smiled and squeezed Soundwave’s arm, “I’m glad you told me”, he murmured, “I really am”. 

“Soundwave: glad as well”, the blue mech agreed. They sat peacefully for a little while longer, they watched as the sun inched closer to the horizon. The sky began to paint itself pink and orange, the third day was almost over. 

Blaster looked at Soundwave and finally asked, “so… what’s the plan? Do you need a ride back home before the sun sets?”. Soundwave sat in silence for a long moment, he watched the sun as it began to dip past the skyline. For a moment, Blaster thought Soundwave hadn’t heard him. “Skyfire is on stand by right now, we can get ya’ there in time, if that’s what you’re worried about”. 

Soundwave shook his helm slowly. He thought long and hard. He thought about Megatron, what he once was, what he was now. He thought about his health, what the Decepticons had failed to do when he needed them most. His processor fixated on his creations, how happy they had been since their arrival, and he thought about Blaster, the dear friend he had made in such a short amount of time. Finally, he made his choice. He smiled behind his mask and broke the silence, “Soundwave: staying”. 

Blaster let out an overjoyed whoop and pulled his arm back from around Soundwave. He faced the telepath and squeezed his servos. “Ya’ mean it mech? Yer really staying here?” He asked, the excitement was clear in his voice. It almost remined Soundwave of how his creations reacted when they got a new toy. 

Soundwave smiled and laughed, “affirmative, Soundwave: staying here”. Blaster’s servos tightened around his and the orange mech grinned audio to audio. Finally, he let go of Soundwave’s servos and returned to his spot, sitting next to Soundwave. 

“I’m so glad”, was all Blaster could say. His joy was infectious, Soundwave smiled and chuckled. 

“I am glad as well” Soundwave admitted, letting his monotone vocalizer shut down for the moment. He watched as Blaster turned and faced him with a surprised expression. The orange boombox’s face melted into happiness again. Nothing else needed to be said. They sat in peaceful quiet for a while. 

Together, Soundwave and Blaster watched the sun trickle past the horizon. Soundwave reached out and gently took his friend’s servo, they held on as they watched the sun. Blaster squeezed Soundwave’s servo in gentle comfort, knowing exactly what the sunset meant to the telepath. Neither mech spoke as they watched the sun go down on Soundwave’s last day as a Decepticon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope ya'll enjoyed this! Like I said before, there will be more chapters soon, so subscribe and keep your eyes peeled for more if you're interested! Feel free to leave a kudos and comment! I love to hear your feedback. If you have any requests or are interested in an art trade, leave a comment and we can sort something out. For more info on art trades and requests take a peak in my profile description.


	8. The Happy Light

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Soundwave settles into his new home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to chapter 8! Just a heads up, final exams are officially upon me, so the updates may be a tad bit slower for a couple weeks. I will continue to try to update when possible.   
> These characters are not mine, I'm just playing with them. Enjoy!
> 
> ::text:: : talk over intercom systems   
> 'text' : internal thoughts 
> 
> No warnings for this chapter! Just the good fluffy stuff!

The new emptiness on the glass to his docking station felt… odd. Soundwave brushed his servo over his chestplates, his glass was void of the familiar Decepticon insignia. The absence of the logo was both surreal and exciting. How long had it been since he last saw himself without the purple insignia? He had long ago lost count. Ratchet had made quick work of the removal; the insignia was popped off and set on the medical table next to Soundwave. The telepath had taken a moment to hold his old badge, he brushed his fingers over the familiarity of it. After a long sigh, he did the honours of throwing it in the trash receptacle. It felt… suiting. After all of his years fighting for equality and peace, he now realized that the Decepticon cause would not be the one to usher that in. Ratchet was never the one to skip out on the details of his work. The medic, in the perfectionist nature that he carried, made sure to help Soundwave give himself a new polish. By the end of it, Soundwave felt wonderfully new again. He touched the empty spot over his chestplates, it was alien to have that void of his insignia. All the same, it was exciting too. It had been so long since he had taken a new path in life.

Blaster looked up as Soundwave and Ratchet stepped out of the private medbay room. He grinned at the telepath, “Hey! Lookin’ good ‘Wave! Must feel like to get rid of that logo” he tapped at his own chestplates as he spoke. Soundwave gave a soft nod and walked over to join Blaster and his creations. 

“Removal of insignia: strange… but good” he agreed. Not much else could be said before a flock of cassettes swarmed Soundwave. He smiled at them behind his mask as he gave them room to perch upon and tug at his plating. 

“Yeah! It feels weird!” Rumble agreed, he rubbed his arm where Ratchet had already removed his insignia. His brothers all agreed, it did feel odd. 

“I’m just happy we are staying!” Lazerbeak chirped, this received more nods and excited voices from the cassettes. 

Soundwave paused for a moment before settling on his knees on the floor. His six cassettes instinctively crawled on his lap and shoulders to grin at him. They knew that Soundwave always said the most interesting stuff after settling low enough to look them all in the optic. The carrier searched for words for a moment before finally asking, in a low voice, “Query: cassettes are all content with staying here on Ark? Soundwave: understands that the Nemesis was home for you for a long time,” he glanced at Ratbat, “Ratbat: has only ever had Nemesis as his home”. The purple bat churred and smiled at the attention. “Soundwave: does not want to make you feel that I am removing you from the only home you know”, he murmured to his cassettes. 

“The Nemesis doesn’t mean home for me,” Ravage was the first to speak, “as long as you are with us, I will be home”. The rest of the cassettes agreed, their small servos gripped at Soundwave’s plating as they nodded. Soundwave bit at his lips behind his mask and nodded silently. He was glad for the mask again, he had to blink rapidly to keep himself from tearing up. The soft static his vocolizer carried was hint enough to his cassettes that he was moved by their words, “Cassettes: mean home for Soundwave as well”. The pile of creations huddled closer as Soundwave wrapped them up in a gentle hug. The family stayed like that for a moment, cuddled together in such a familiar way, in such an unfamiliar environment. 

“awwh, now would ya’ look at that?”, Jazz crooned softly. Blaster jumped and turned to look behind him. Standing just inside the door to the medbay was Jazz, Prowl, and Optimus Prime. 

“I hope we are not disturbing”, Optimus said softly, he tried and failed to conceal the soft smile from his face as he watched the family embrace. 

Soundwave pulled himself back up to a stand, his cassettes continued to cling to his plating. “Statement: you are not interrupting” he said, his optics continued to linger on his little family. Soundwave joined the rest of the group as chairs were pulled up. Blaster patted a chair next to him and gestured for Soundwave to sit next to him. The telepath did, his cassettes clambered over each-other until they settled comfortably on their creator’s shoulders and lap. 

Blaster gave Jazz a pointed glare when the smaller mech elbowed him with a wink. The orange boombox swatted his friend’s arm when he took it upon himself to silently tease Blaster for saving Soundwave a spot. 

Optimus began the impromptu meeting with his usual friendly tone, “Soundwave, now that you have renounced your position as a Decepticon, you and your creations are more than welcome to stay aboard the Ark. Jazz, Prowl, and I have been discussing our next steps from here. I think that we should give you some time to settle in and continue recovering from your injury before asking you to make any more decisions. I will remind you that you have the option to remain a neutral to the war and live aboard the Ark, the fuel and living spaces for you and your family will be provided for under the War Protections Acts. You also have the option to sign as an Ally to the Autobot cause, this would allow you to work under contract for things such as communication and tech repair. You would not need to take on the role, title, or beliefs of an Autobot, you would simply need to support the cause when possible and comfortable. Your contract work would result in more earnings and rations, and perhaps larger quarters over time. Lastly, you have the option of joining the Autobots. Given your skill sets and talents, we would be more than happy to take you aboard as another communications officer. At the moment, we only have Blaster as a specialist in the area, I think that it would be beneficial for everyone to have two. Working as an Autobot would, again, earn you even more rations and larger quarters. Of course, you may take as much time as you need to make this decision. You are free to change your position if you find that one does not suit you. Until you decide, you have been listed as a neutral”. 

Soundwave nodded as he processed all of his options. He felt a tingle of excitement at the flexibility he was given for his decision. It was nice to be able to take his time to consider all of the options fully. He accepted a datapad as Prowl handed it to him. 

“This datapad contains all of the expectations and rewards each role contains”, Prowl explained, “it also contains the goals and principles of the Autobot cause. You are more than welcome to look through this information in making your choices. The Autobot cause has changed in many ways since the beginning of the war, I recommend that you look over our mission statement. I have a feeling that you will agree with many of our long-term goals”. 

The telepath gave a thankful nod as he subspaced the datapad, it would be interesting to refresh himself on the ethics and codes of the Autobots. 

“Now, as for your new living quarters,” Optimus continued, “we are currently having a bit of a space shortage in the Ark. Prowl, Jazz, and I have been looking into having a storage space cleared for you and your family. It will not be a large space, but it should be able to comfortable fit everyone, at least for the moment”. 

Soundwave smiled behind his mask and nodded, “Soundwave and cassettes: accustomed to small quarters. The Nemesis: is very small in comparison to the Ark. Small quarters: will be more than enough for us”. His cassettes grinned and nodded. 

“Or…” Blaster blurted, he froze when everyone’s optics settled on him, “I mean… it’s just a thought… But you guys could always move in with me and my kiddos. I mean, we have been pretty comfortable with your six cassettes staying in my quarters, what’s one more mech, right? I have two berth rooms, but my little guys usually sleep in my berth or my cassette docks, I have a feeling that you guys are the same, right? So, I basically have a berth room that isn’t being used anymore, you’re more than welcome to it. Besides, my quarters are plenty big for all of us, it would probably be a lot more comfortable for you. It would also mean you would get to share our private washracks, and I already have a work space all set up with communications tech, you could probably make good use of that. After all, your little fellas have been pretty comfortable living with us, it would be kinda’ lonely to go back to just four cassettes… If you want”. 

The room erupted with begs and pleads from Soundwave’s cassettes. Their small servos clung to his plating as they stared up at their carrier with big optics.   
“Please, Boss! We should stay with them!” 

“Yeah! Eject and Rewind are so fun, we want to stay with them!” 

“They have human video games and they share them with us!”. 

“And there’s so much room for games! You’ve love it!” 

“They even have a bath tub in the washracks! It’s so nice!” 

“Please, please!”. 

Soundwave stared at his pleading cassettes with a bright visor. He looked up at Blaster and seemed to consider it for a moment. He held up a servo to silence his cassettes before saying, “Offer: greatly appreciated. Considering cassette’s desires: I think we will accept your suggestion”. His cassettes cheered and whooped with joy, they grabbed at his plating and jumped around with excitement. 

Blaster grinned at the scene, “It’ll be great, ‘Wave. I’m sure you’ll like it too”. One glance at Jazz confirmed his suspicion. The spy grinned at him widely, his elbow nudged and prodded Blaster playfully. 

::Already moving in with the boyfriend?::, Jazz teased over intercoms.  
Blaster rolled his optics back at his friend, ::Awh, stuff it:: he muttered over their com. link. His short response only earned more snickers from Jazz. 

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

 

Blaster had certainly delivered; his quarters were quite spacious and very comfortable. The ten cassettes had been overjoyed to hear about their continued time as roommates, they had cheered and hugged before dragging Soundwave around the Quarters to show him everything. As fast as they had showed him his new home, they were gone and setting up a video game to play. Soundwave could hear their miniature tournament from down the hall as he stood in his new berth room. 

“I hope it’s big enough”, Blaster said, both mechs were looking over the room. 

Soundwave snorted, “This berthroom: larger than my entire quarters back on the Nemesis”. He had to resist laughing at the shocked stare he received from the orange boombox.   
“Primus, mech”, Blaster muttered, “and you were one of Megatron’s top dogs, too”. He shook his helm in disbelief before bringing his attention to the blank walls. “Sorry about the bareness of this room. We almost never used it until your little guys took it up. If ya’ want we can look for posters and stuff to put up?”. 

“Decorations: not necessary at the moment. Thank you: for the offer” Soundwave smiled at Blaster from behind his mask. The orange boombox picked up the smile in his voice and returned it with a grin. 

The remainder of the evening was spent in relaxation. Blaster and Soundwave joined their cassettes in the living room. The two mechs settled on the couch and watched as their creations played racing and battling games. Soundwave felt… good. He smiled to himself, he actually felt very good. He was distracted from the remaining ache in his chestplates, he felt stronger and better rested. He had more decisions to make for himself soon, but this time there was no rush to decide.

Later that evening, Soundwave and Blaster helped their creations settle into each respective berth. The two mechs shared their goodnights before retiring to their individual rooms.   
Soundwave sighed and removed his mask and visor. He watched his sleeping cassettes, they were cuddled into a little pile on the berth. They had left enough space for him to climb in with them. The telepath crawled into the berth and pulled the blankets over himself. It was much more comfortable than the berth he had back on the Nemesis. He yawned contently as his cassettes wiggled closer to him, they were so pleased to be with their carrier all day and night again. Only visiting him for a few hours a day had been an untold strain on them, they were much happier now to have him with them whenever they wanted. Soundwave rolled over onto his side, he cradled his sleeping creations in his arms. His optics focused on something new. Hastily stuck to the wall was a band poster. Soundwave smiled into the pillows as he realized that Blaster had snuck into his room at some time during the evening to add some colour to his new room. He had to quell a chuckle that Blaster had gone out of his way to find a Pink Floyd poster, Soundwave had told him a few days ago that that was one of his favourites. The simple gesture warmed something in the blue mech’s spark. He sent a ping to his new roommate.   
::I am deeply in gratitude for everything you have done for my family and I. Thank you:: he sent over a com. link. 

Blaster smiled from his own berth across the hall, ::Any time, ‘Wave:: he responded. The orange boombox sighed and closed his optics, he couldn’t quite wipe the smile from his faceplates. His processor drifted to settle on Soundwave. He was very glad to have the blue mech as a roommate, he was so smart, and surprisingly warm to his cassettes. He wondered for a moment what the telepath’s face looked like. He couldn’t help a chuckle escape when he thought about Jazz’s comments. His friend was usually pretty good at sensing when mechs had feeling for each-other, but this time he had been way off. Blaster grinned and shook his helm, ‘sure ‘Wave is interesting and different,’ he thought to himself, ‘but he is just so not my type. He’s so quiet, and reclusive, and…’. He grinned when he remembered the way that Soundwave brooded by crossing his arms and narrowing his visor. He wondered how Soundwave’s face looked when he pouted. Blaster could almost imagine the blue mech narrowing ruby optics and wrinkling his nasal bridge. It was a cute idea. Blaster’s spark skipped a beat. 

‘…. Oh frag’.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope ya'll enjoyed this! Like I said before, there will be more chapters soon, so subscribe and keep your eyes peeled for more if you're interested! Feel free to leave a kudos and comment! I love to hear your feedback. If you have any requests or are interested in an art trade, leave a comment and we can sort something out. For more info on art trades and requests take a peak in my profile description.


	9. The Beginning Light

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things begin to settle down for Soundwave as he finds his place aboard the Ark. However, new developments on the Nemesis may soon threaten his new home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to chapter 9! Just a heads up, final exams are only half way done, so the updates may still be a kinda slow for a while. I will continue to try to update when possible.  
>  These characters are not mine, I'm just playing with them. Enjoy!
> 
> No warnings for this chapter! Just the good fluffy stuff!

Megatron slumped in his throne. His fingers drummed impatiently on the arm rest as his optics stared out at nothing. His posture seemed calm enough, lax even, but the burning ferocity in his optics was enough to deter any mech from approaching him. It had been four days. Fours days since Megatron told Soundwave that he had _three_ days to return. 

The warlord had spent the third day simmering in silence, his optics rested on the door to the throne room. No Decepticon even dared to glance his way. Aside from his especially un-nerving behaviour, the third day had been fairly quiet. When the end of the day rolled in Megatron had simply stood from his throne and walked out. The mechs present paused their work to watch him leave. Somehow, Megatron’s calm containment of his rage was so much more terrifying than his typical fiery spits of anger. 

It was day four. The morning had begun like any other, Megatron brooded from his throne in deep thought as the mechs around him worked. The Nemesis was silent enough to hear a pin drop, no mech wished to break the thin glass that seemingly held everything together. They just waited and worked, their optics occasionally dared to glance at the stewing Warlord. It was quiet, far too quiet. 

“Com. the Autobots”. The harsh demand cut through the throne room, everyone froze in their work. The mechs cautiously directed their gaze to Megatron, who was unchanged, aside from the new burning that sat carefully behind his optics. No Decepticon moved a digit, they feared the turning of rage towards themselves if they even considered moving, order or not. 

Slowly, almost leisurely, Megatron leaned forward in his seat. His optics burned holes into his crew as he let another hiss crawl from his mouth, “Com. the Autobots, _now_ ”. His second order lurched his mechs into life again. Skywarp and Onslaught quickly stepped towards the communications hub across the room. They regarded it with hesitant optics. Even since Soundwave’s absence the communications systems had began deteriorating, it had been hard enough to set it up to com. the Autobots four days ago… now it was looking doubtful. 

Megatron watched in cold silence as the two mechs struggled with the machinery. Both jumped back with yelps as wiring spat furious sparks at them. After a long, cuss filled battle with the damn thing, they fell silent and stepped back. The hub whirled to life, the screen fizzed with static for a brief moment before the communications hardware gave a sickly heave and shut down again. Skywarp hardly had enough time to jump out of the way as Megatron fired at the hub twice with his cannon. 

Smoke poured from the (now certainly destroyed) machinery. Skywarp and Onslaught stared at it with defeated optics before turning to look at Megatron.   
“Well… It’s definitely not going to work now” Skywarp muttered. Instant regret polluted his field when his optics locked with Megatron’s.

“Would you care to repeat that?” the silver mech rumbled, his optics dared the seeker to speak. It would be a waste of resources to send another seeker off to the medbay, but the Warlord certainly could use a punching bag. 

Skywarp fitfully shook his helm, his faceplates paled as he looked at his peds. “Then get out of my sight” Megatron hissed as he moved from his throne. The seeker was gone before another word could be said. 

“Everyone leave” was Megatron’s next order. No mech hesitated to immediately start filing out of the room. “Except for you, Reflector” Megatron finished. The trio immediately froze where they stood. The rest of the crew trickled past them, only giving passing looks of pity as they left. The camera crew swallowed thickly and returned into the depths of the room. They stood at attention as Megatron settled himself back into his throne. 

“I wish to know where Soundwave is” Megatron began nonchalantly, “Go to the Ark and gather some information for me. Take pictures, recordings if possible, and don’t get spotted. I want to know all about what my _traitorous_ communications officer is doing there”. 

A gleeful smile spread across the trio’s face as they received their orders. It had been so long since they had received such a juicy mission. They had never been ordered to get the dirt on Soundwave before, he had always behaved so well. On top of that, they knew in the past that if they did get caught spying on the telepath they would be the direct receivers of Megatron’s wrath. Before Soundwave’s disappearance, the third in command was practically untouchable under Megatron’s power. Things had obviously changed. The idea of spying on such a secretive mech sent glee through the trio. Maybe they would find something particularly good for blackmail. “We are honoured to do this for you, My Lord” they spoke in unison. 

“Good”, Megatron dismissed them with a wave of his servo, “Go at once, be back by tomorrow”. Reflector turned and began for the door, their processors were already simmering over the fun things they might find at the Ark. “Oh, and Reflector?” Megatron’s voice halted their leave. They turned back to the warlord, failing to conceal the excitement from their optics. “Don’t disappoint me”. 

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Soundwave stretched lazily in his berth. He couldn’t help but notice the absence of his creations, it was unusual for them to get up before him. He pushed himself up with a satisfied sigh and stared out the window to his room for a moment. This berth was much more comfortable than the little ones in the medbay, certainly it was larger and more comfortable than his one back on the Nemesis. He couldn’t help it as a smile spread across his face, he dimmed his optics and enjoyed how the sun warmed him. The sheer novelty of having windows and morning light in a berth-room was something he hadn’t even considered. The Nemesis was so deep in the Ocean that it was dark constantly outside of the little portholes. The happy chattering of his creations could be heard from down the hall, as well as something unfamiliar, perhaps more human media. 

Soundwave slipped out of his room and walked through into the main living quarters. All ten of the cassettes were piled up on the couch watching some sort of human entertainment. Soundwave smiled at their excited voices and occasional hushes as they watched. Ravage and Steeljaw were the only two not watching, the two felines chose instead to groom and dote over Ratbat, who was wildly content to be receiving so much attention at once. The tiny bat churred and giggled as the two eldest helped clean his delicate wings of debris. 

The scene seemed so natural and common for the group of younglings. Soundwave was reminded again that they had been spending the last week in these quarters while he had only moved in yesterday. It was probable that his cassettes had already settled into a new routine. It would take some time for him to adjust as well. Soundwave smiled when his creations noticed his presence and greeted him happily through their bonds. 

“They’re called cartoons” Rumble said, he pointed to the TV screen, “Human sparklings watch them in the morning”.

“Human offspring are not called sparklings” Ravage corrected absentmindedly. His nose tickled at Ratbat’s cheek, prompting a squeak and giggles from the youngest.

“Well if you’re so smart, what do the squishes call their kids?” Rumble retorted with a defensive tone. The deadpan look from his siblings gave him the answer. “oh… right… kids”. The groups burst into hysterical giggles at the mechling. Rumble puffed out his cheeks and pouted. It wasn’t long before they were all zoned back into the cartoons. 

Soundwave shook his helm with a soft laugh. He couldn’t help the warmth in his spark as he watched his creations interact with Blaster’s, they really got along well.   
Shuffled footsteps entered the room behind him, followed by a soft yawn. “Mornin’”, Blaster greeted his new roommate. 

Soundwave smiled and turned around to face the orange boombox, “good morning”. He suddenly felt overly aware of his lack of mask and visor. Blaster’s blue optics immediately zoned in on his faceplates, they almost seemed to map out Soundwave’s features before Blaster unfroze and immediately tried to make up for his awkwardly long pause. 

“uh… guh… hey! Yeah, good morning!” the boombox babbled, “It’s a good one, so bright. For sure… and uh… cartoons…”. Blaster stopped and put his face down in his servos. He only looked back up at the soft laugh Soundwave gave at his reaction. “That’s -uh- a nice laugh” he grinned, trying his best to stay casual. It only made sense for Soundwave to remove his mask and visor, they were his quarters now as well. It was just so unexpected… so … attractive. 

“I assume that you must prefer my real laugh because you have associated my monotone laugh with having your aft kicked?” Soundwave said. His amber optics twinkled with something Blaster had never expected to see in the telepath; playfulness. 

“I-… ohh mech, you’re askin’ for it”, Blaster laughed back. The two grinned at each other for a moment. 

“I’m hungry!” Rewind interrupted the two carriers, they paused and looked over to the pile of cassettes. Nine other voices and nods joined in, they hadn’t fueled yet. Blaster gave Soundwave another dazed smile before the two mechs began handing out energon to their creations. The entire time that they were passing out fuel, Blaster struggled to tear his optics from Soundwave’s faceplates. 

Finally, once all ten cassettes were silently drinking while watching their cartoons, Soundwave and Blaster grabbed their own cubes before sitting together across the room at a table. A long moment passed while the carriers drank in silence. Blaster’s optics continued to dart to and from Soundwave’s face. He couldn’t help the pull to stare into those unique yellow optics. Soundwave met his gaze with a blink and he awkwardly looked away again. 

“I don’t mind” Soundwave said softly. 

Blaster looked up at him with a half startle, “what?”. 

“I don’t mind you looking,” the telepath answered, “I know my optics are unusual, I am used to stares when I don’t have my visor engaged. You will get used to it eventually, but I don’t mind. Stares don’t bother me anymore”. 

Blaster nodded slowly, he couldn’t help the thoughts bubble up in his mind. Rare optic colours probably weren’t the only thing bots were staring at… Soundwave was one hell of a looker, it was almost impossible to not stare for many reasons. The soft upward quirk of Soundwave’s lips filled him with mortification. Primus, he really, really hoped that Soundwave didn’t just hear him thinking that. 

If he did hear, Soundwave didn’t say anything about it. They continued fueling in comfortable silence. Excited yells from the cassettes brought both of their attention towards the couch. Something exciting must have been happening in the cartoons. The carriers shared a look before laughing softly to each other.   
“Did ya’ sleep well?” Blaster broke the silence between them. 

“Very well” Soundwave nodded, “the berths here are much more comfortable than the medbay… or the Nemesis”. Blaster chuckled softly at that. The blue mech continued, “Although, I must admit, I am worried about how Megatron will react to my continued absence,” his servo brushed over his chestplates, the absence of his insignia was still so bizarre, “I wonder how long it will be until he acts upon this”. 

Blaster leaned forward and squeezed one of Soundwave’s servos, “no matter how he reacts, you and your little guys will be safe here”. The gentle smile from Soundwave melted something in Blaster’s spark. 

“Thank you” Soundwave murmured. 

The rest of the morning passed calmly. The cassettes finished fueling and were sent off on their chores and training for the day. Shortly after Blaster left for his com. shift. Soundwave stood in the empty quarters for a moment. He thoughtfully touched his audio before shutting off the lights and leaving his quarters. Automatically, his visor shut over his optics. With some consideration, he left his mask off… Perhaps it would be easier for the Autobots to trust him if they saw his face and heard his real voice. He made his way down the halls as he mulled over how to phrase his decision. 

The halls were fairly quiet, most mechs had already made it to their morning shifts, if they had one. Soundwave crossed paths with Wheeljack first. The chipper scientist waved at him and extended his morning greetings. His audiofins flashed a happy blue. Soundwave smiled and nodded back. Were all the Autobots always so cheerful? His question was answered shortly after when he crossed paths with a group of minibots. Cliffjumper, Gears, and Huffer crowded together and gave him suspicions optics. Bumblebee greeted Soundwave sunnily but was hushed by his paranoid friends. The telepath could feel their glares on his dorsa until he turned down another hall. 

Soundwave found himself comfortably familiar with the inside of the Ark. Blaster’s tour a few days ago had helped, but his previous spying and poking around within the ship certainly gave him most of the familiarity. Finally, he found himself outside of Prowl’s office. He gave a gentle knock. Almost immediately the doors opened for him. Prowl looked up from his desk and raised his optic brows. 

“Soundwave,” he greeted, “I wasn’t expecting you”. His optics glanced over the telepath’s face before focusing back on his red visor. 

“I hope I am not interrupting” Soundwave said, he concealed his amusement at the surprise in Prowl’s mind at the unfamiliar voice. Although, Soundwave was certainly impressed by the Second in Command’s cool behaviour in a new situation. If not for his telepathy, he wouldn’t have even known that Prowl had picked up a difference. 

“Not at all, come in” the Praxian gestured to the chair across his desk, “have a seat. Is there anything I can help you with?”. Soundwave took the offered seat before nodding.   
“I looked through the datapad you gave me, it was very interesting” He said, “I now realize the misconceptions I had about the Autobot cause… However, I am not here to enlist. I recall that one of my options was to work as an ally, I would work on contract for communications and tech repair”. 

Prowl nodded and pulled out a new datapad, “were you interested in taking on this new role?” he asked. 

Soundwave smiled, “absolutely”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope ya'll enjoyed this! Like I said before, there will be more chapters soon, so subscribe and keep your eyes peeled for more if you're interested! Feel free to leave a kudos and comment! I love to hear your feedback. If you have any requests or are interested in an art trade, leave a comment and we can sort something out. For more info on art trades and requests take a peak in my profile description.


	10. The Changing Light

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Soundwave wakes to an unpleasant surprise as he slowly adapts to life on the Ark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to chapter 10! Sorry for that longer wait, life has been super busy on my end. I will continue to try to update when possible.  
>  These characters are not mine, I'm just playing with them. Enjoy!
> 
> Warnings: mentions of nightmares and trauma related ghost pains

That morning Soundwave woke with a dull ache in his chestplates. He elected to ignore it at first, choosing instead to busy himself with waking his creations for the day. By the time all ten creations had settled to drink their energon, the dull ache in Soundwave’s chestplates had turned to a sharp searing pain. The telepath stared blankly at his cube of Energon, he was almost impressed with how mind-numbing the pain was. A gentle touch to his servo pulled him back to reality. 

Blaster was seated next to him, his servo gently rested over Soundwave’s. The orange boombox looked at Soundwave with concerned optics for a long moment before asking in a soft whisper, “You doin’ alright there, mech?”. Both mechs quietly glanced at their pile of creations across the room before turning back into each other.

“I must admit, I do not feel well”, Soundwave admitted in a hushed voice. He was almost surprised by the immediate worry in Blaster’s field. He touched a blue servo over his tape deck and continued, “I have reason to believe that the injury is flaring up, or perhaps agitated”. 

Blaster let out a low breath and nodded. His servo squeezed Soundwave’s shoulder as he murmured, “let’s get ya’ into Ratchet, sound good?”. A slow nod from Soundwave was his only answer. 

As quietly as possible, Soundwave beckoned Ravage over to the two mechs. The feline, who had just finished his own cube, casually stretched and joined Blaster and Soundwave at the table. 

“Do ya’ think you could watch over the bitlets for a few breems?”, Blaster asked the eldest softly. Ravage flicked his whiskers and nodded, his optics immediately landed on his carrier’s unusually flushed and creased faceplates. His optics focused for a moment on the pained grimace Soundwave was failing to conceal. 

“What is wrong?”, Ravage asked, he had immediately joined them in whispering. 

“You need not worry,” Soundwave murmured, still clutching his chestplates, “Blaster will just be helping me to the Medbay”. 

Nine worried gasps immediately froze the three whispering mechs. They looked back across the room to find a cluster of eavesdropping cassettes. Soundwave sighed wearily.  
“Medbay?” Rumble hurried over to clutch at Soundwave’s leg. 

“What are you gonna’ do there?” Rewind cried as the group migrated to flock at their creators. A wave of worried voices quickly overtook the previously calm morning. 

“’s’ok!”, Blaster crooned, wading his way through the disturbed cassettes, “’Wave is just feeling a little achy today, is all. Ratch’ is gonna’ make sure he is feeling better and we will be back, alright?”. His gentle reassurance was met with whimpers and small servos latching to Soundwave’s plating. 

“I hate to be leaving ya’ with this, kitty…” Blaster took Soundwave’s elbow and helped him stand, Ravage’s ear flattened at the nickname, “But we should really head out”. Soundwave shakily clutched to Blaster’s arm and allowed the other boombox to help him up. He sent packages of reassurance and love through his family bonds. Blaster blew kisses behind them as they stepped into the hall. Soundwave fastened his visor over his optics and sent his apologies to his creations just as the doors shut, leaving the cassettes alone in their quarters.

A long silence held the room as Ravage surveyed his brothers and Blaster’s creations. Immediately, nine worried sets of optics settled on him. He sighed and took a seat. This was going to be a very long morning. 

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~  
Ratchet leaned towards the panel displaying his test results. He scrubbed his chin and sighed, then sighed again. Soundwave and Blaster watched in silence as the medic glared at the results, then glared at the telepath’s chestplates, then glared once more at the results. Several more scans and tests were completed with Ratchet’s under-breath muttering and worried sighs.

Blaster swallowed thickly and squeezed Soundwave’s servo. This much silence from the medic was never a good thing. Soundwave looked oddly calm as he watched the medic curse his test results. Blaster had to wonder if Soundwave has used his telepathy to already read his diagnosis from Ratchet’s processor.

“Alright,” Ratchet abruptly turned to the pair, “I have some good new and some bad news”. He didn’t wait for a preference of firsts before continuing, “Good news is, physically, you are in order. You are still healing, of course, but it is coming along just fine. There is no inflammation, errors, or infection”. The medic took a moment to look Soundwave up and down, his optics turned apologetic, “bad news is, well… have you ever head of ghost pains?”. 

Almost immediately, Soundwave’s ruffled plating relaxed and he gave a soft smile. “I have”. The medic nodded and rubbed his jaw again. His optics flicked over to Blaster, who looked even more confused. 

Turning to the orange mech, Ratchet explained, “Ghost pains, in the simplest explanation, are neurological, sometimes chronic pains that linger after a traumatic episode. For Soundwave, this means that physically, he is healing well, there is nothing to worry about… But something in his processor is setting off the memory of the pain he experienced from a … disturbing event, in this case, the injury he had”. Ratchet gestured to Soundwave’s tape-deck, “despite the fact that they are not real, ghost pains can feel very real, and are easily mistaken for the real injury”. 

Blaster’s worried optics immediately focused on Soundwave, he clutched the blue servos gently. “Primus, Soundwave, that must be so scary” he fretted. Soundwave blinked and shook his helm. 

“I am simply glad that this was not brought on by a real complication. I am familiar with Ghost pains, I will be fine”. He gently pulled his servos from Blaster’s, stood and thanked Ratchet, then turned to head back home. Blaster and Ratchet stared after him, then at each other. 

“Keeps an optic on that one”, Ratchet murmured to the boombox, “make sure he is taking care of himself”. When he received a shaken look from Blaster, he sighed and shrugged, “If he’s familiar with ghost pains… well, just keep an optic on him, is all”. 

Blaster nodded quickly, his processor was already working through some of the things Soundwave had shared with him a few nights ago, as they watched the sunset. Something clicked into place in his processor, his plating deflated and he gave a morose “oh…Thanks, Doc. Have a good one”. He followed Soundwave though the medbay doors.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Their walk home had been relatively quiet, with only Soundwave back in good spirits. Blaster had attempted to ask his friend about the pain, Soundwave waved it off. “Knowing that it isn’t damaging makes it far more manageable” the telepath stated simply. 

Their return to the quarters was met with much joy and excitement from their creations. Small servos clutched at plating as the cassettes asked piles of questions. Soundwave took care to answer each question while leaving out the exact diagnosis. Blaster helped sooth everyone, letting them know that everything was okay.

For some time after their return, Soundwave sat with six of his creations piled atop him. The family didn’t move for some time after that. Blaster watched with amused optics. It was so sweet that something inside him melted. 

The rest of the day went particularly well. After waking to such an unpleasant scare, everyone was just happy to go about their normal routines. Soundwave felt quite pleased to spend his first day back to work. He hadn’t realized how numbed his processor had felt without something interesting to work on. His itching servos were finally relived when a heap of repairs were handed over to him. It was quite pleasant to have a distraction from his worries once more. While deep into his repair and tech work, he didn’t even think once about Megatron, and the ache in his chestplates slipped away to nothing. 

If only the calmness had held onto him through the night. 

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Soundwave woke with a choked gasp. He didn’t know when he had sat up in his berth, but he has somehow managed to do it before becoming conscious. Six concerned optics stared up at him from the dark. He groaned and scrubbed his faceplates. 

“What’s wrong, boss?” Frenzy whispered. 

“Did ya’ have a bad dream?” Rumble asked, his servo squeezed at blue plating. Ratbat didn’t say anything, but snuggled himself back into the crook of Soundwave’s neck. 

“I am fine” Soundwave slowly extracted himself from the berth sheets, then tucked his creations back in together. “I just need some air” he whispered as he gently prompted Ratbat to curl up with Ravage again. Without another word, he slipped from the room and down the hall. He quietly made his way down the hallway, then reached the main living quarters. He closed the door to, then leaned against it, rested his helm back, and let out an exhausted sigh. His optics remained off as he scrubbed his faceplates, then froze. His telepathy picked up another presence. Who else was up at this hour?

Gradually, he peaked through his fingers and his optics were met with those of his unexpected company. 

“… hey”, Blaster grinned from across the room. He had situated himself at the table, piles of communications reports were stacked haphazardly around him. Quietly, he pushed back the chair next to him and patted the seat. 

Soundwave stared at him for a moment before wandering over to the offered spot. “Why are you up so late?” He asked. 

“I put off doin’ the reports for too long… so now I am up doin’ them late”, Blaster chuckled sheepishly, “I could ask you the same question”. 

Soundwave shook his helm glumly, before answering in one word, “nightmares”. Blaster hummed and gave him those understanding and empathetic optics. Not long ago, Soundwave would have steamed under their gaze, but he had warmed up to them. He let Blaster put an arm around him to squeeze his shoulder. 

“Ya’ alright?” the orange mech asked softly. 

Soundwave nodded, “I am fine”. Blaster watched his down casted optics and frowned.

“Do ya’ wana’ talk about anything?”, He asked.

For a moment, Soundwave seemed to mull over his options, then he shook his helm, “not particularly”. Blaster didn’t push, he simply nodded and leaned back. 

They sat in silence for a long moment. Blaster glanced at Soundwave’s glum expression several times as he tried to think of something to do. Suddenly, he had a brilliant idea. The orange boombox perked up with a grin, drawing Soundwave’s optics up from the table. 

“How about we make some energon goodies?” he suggested boisterously. The deadpan stare from Soundwave was almost as amusing as it was cute. Blaster chuckled and stood, he took Soundwave’s servos in his own. “Yeah! Let’s make energon goodies! We have everything we need here to do it”. 

Soundwave continued to fix him with a doubtful look. “It is past 1 AM”, He shook his helm, “our creations are all asleep”. 

“We won’t wake ‘em. We can play some quiet music and make ‘em together… The bitlets will have no idea and I know they will love the surprise once they are up tomorrow”, Blaster pleaded, “C’mon, it will be fun! And it will take your processor off a’ everything”. 

Soundwave felt himself nodding… It did sound like fun. He had not made energon goodies in an incredibly long amount of time. Not since before the war. Not since he worked in Senator Ratbat’s manor. It would be a good distraction, and it did sound pleasant. 

“Very well”, he stood, “but I get to select the music”. An excited laugh from Blaster made him smile. 

As it turned out, they worked quite well together. Soundwave’s meticulous instruction following kept them on track, while Blaster’s “artful editions of pizzazz” …as he proudly called it… kept things interesting. 

Soundwave glanced up at Blaster to catch the other mech licking their mixing spoon. Blaster was quickly met with a smear of batter across his nasal ridge. Blaster made a great laughing sound at this, as he easily canted back and brushed a glob of batter across Soundwave’s cheek. Soundwave gasped and choked on his own amusement before swiping more of the half-made goodies across Blaster’s tape deck. What else could Blaster do but throw a handful of the stuff right at Soundwave’s faceplates? The telepath’s quick duck out of the way resulted in the batter making a loud smacking sound as it hit the wall instead.

Both mechs stared at the batter as it wetly slid down the wall. They chuckled, then laughed, then gasped and howled. Their giggles were muffled into servos as they attempted to stay quiet for their sleeping families. Soundwave keeled over as Blaster slid to the floor, a half-empty mixing bowl still held in the crook of his arm. Soundwave joined him, and the two mechs laughed and wheezed at each other for what felt like hours. Soundwave couldn’t be sure if it was the sleep deprivation that made everything so hysterical, or if something in Blaster brought out his dusty humour. Either way, he knew that he had not laughed that hard for many, many years. 

Out of nowhere, Soundwave up in a bolt. He went dead silent, his optics fixated on the windows of their quarters. Blaster’s laughter died out and he went silent. 

“…’Wave?” he asked softly. A shudder ran down his spine at Soundwave’s answer. 

“Someone was watching us”. 

“… wait, for real? Are ya’ sure?” 

“yes… no…” Soundwave suddenly pushed himself up and picked his way across the room. He stared out into the darkness, then cupped his servos and squinted out past their reflections. It was so hard to see out into the desert night. Blaster quietly joined him at the window. A long moment stretched on as they stared. 

The sudden ‘ping’ from the dehydrator made both mechs jump. They looked back into their quarters and silently went about removing the finished goodies.

“My telepathy,” Soundwave broke the silence, “I thought that I had picked up on a presence… I suppose I did not. Perhaps I am just overtired, and I am getting false readings”. He shook his helm with a sigh. 

“Hey, it’s no big deal”, Blaster smiled at him cheerfully, “kinda’ my fault for keepin’ ya’ up so late”. They smiled at each other and finished cleaning up. 

“How about we shower off and hit the hay?” Blaster offered casually. Soundwave smiled thankfully at his friend. 

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Oh, Reflector had the juicy stuff alright. They huddled together and admired their work one last time before proudly making their way into the throne room. Megatron sat up in his seat and smiled wickedly at them. They could only smile back. They felt quite proud of this one. It was good work, yes, very good work indeed. 

“Given the looks upon your faces, I must assume that you were able to find Soundwave, yes?” the Warlord relaxed back in this throne with a satisfied smile. 

“We certainly did” The three mechs spoke in unison, their plating puffed with pride as they offered a datapad out to the larger mech. 

Megatron accepted the datapad, then powered it up. “Pictures?” he asked simply. 

“Of course,” Reflector smiled back, “he has been spending time in the Ark… He was in the medbay this morning, we lost sight of him through mid day. But the night was… particularly interesting”. 

Megatron’s optics focused on the images as his listened to the report. He immediately scowled at the pictures. This was not good, not good at all. “What are they doing?” He hissed. 

“Living together”, Reflector smiled at their work, “looks like Soundwave got pretty close to that orange one, Blaster”. Megatron flicked through the images, he felt the rage simmer higher and higher within him as he did. A picture of Soundwave and Blaster on the floor of their quarters laughing stirred a growl from his lips. 

“Well done”, Megatron dismissed his spies with a wave of his servo, “help yourself to extra rations, if you please”. The team bowed and left, leaving Megatron alone in the throne room. 

Megatron’s optics narrowed at the pictures. His finger traced across it for a moment. What a waste… What a horrific waste of a communications officer. If only he had known that Soundwave was so soft before, so easily influenced by the Autobots. He should have been dealt with long ago. The warlord couldn’t help but notice the lack of a mask, he flicked through each picture, growing more frustrated with each one. He especially hated the ones where Soundwave smiled at that damned Autobot. Almost all of that could be forgiven… if not for the clear lack of a Decepticon insignia. “Turn coat”, Megatron chided to himself. 

Oh yes, this would be dealt with… It would most _certainly_ be dealt with.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope ya'll enjoyed this! Like I said before, there will be more chapters soon, so subscribe and keep your eyes peeled for more if you're interested! Feel free to leave a kudos and comment! I love to hear your feedback. If you have any requests or are interested in an art trade, leave a comment and we can sort something out. For more info on art trades and requests take a peak in my profile description.


	11. The Altered Light

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some days in Soundwave's new home are very eventful.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Say hello to chapter 11!  
> Sorry for the lengthy wait, University has kept me very busy indeed! I have felt a recent inspiration for this story, so stick around for more.  
> These characters are not mine, I am just playing around with them. Enjoy!

Blaster hummed softly under his breath as he made his way down the hall. It was a quiet morning aboard the Ark, many mechs were still waking for the day. As a result, Blaster felt like he had the halls of the base all to himself. He typically wasn’t the kind of mech to enjoy his early bird shifts, especially the ones that stretched from 4:30 AM to 10:30 AM like today. Usually, he dragged his way through the early shifts, waiting for the crack of dawn so he could book it out of the communications hub and back into his berth. Last night had been a particularly late night. In most cases, staying up so late would only make his early morning shift worse. Considering that he had only gotten a few hours of recharge, Blaster certainly was tired, but he just couldn’t help the spring in his step that morning. After all, it was hard for him to feel down when his late night had been spent with Soundwave! 

Blaster’s spark skipped around behind his chestplates as he remembered how much fun he had last night with the telepath. Making energon goodies was really no big deal, but with Soundwave it was just so much fun. They certainly had made a mess of the kitchen, but even cleaning it up was pleasant in such attractive company. 

His smile widened a little when he remembered the way they had laughed on the floor for the longest time. It was impossible to forget the way in which the blue mech shyly dipped his helm to his shoulder when he laughed, almost to hide his smile. Certainly, Blaster would never forget how cute Soundwave was when he laughed hard enough that no sound came from his mouth anymore. How did Soundwave manage to drive him stir crazy by doing the simplest things? Blaster didn’t know; however, he did know that he felt thoroughly intoxicated by the mech. 

If he had things right in his helm, he might be lucky enough to spend the rest of the morning with just Soundwave! The herd of cassettes were scheduled to attend to their chores and training from 10 AM to noon, and Soundwave had a shift working on tech repair from 7 AM until 10 AM. For Blaster, if he was lucky, by the time he got home he would have a whole hour and a half with just Soundwave. No cassettes, no work shifts, no appointments with Ratchet, no nothing! Just the two of them, alone, in their quarters. 

The entire morning, during his shift, Blaster had hummed and hawed over his feelings towards Soundwave. He so wanted to tell the blue mech how attracted he was to him. He didn’t exactly know how to label his feelings for the relatively new mech… but for the last week since Soundwave woke up in the medbay, he really couldn’t get the mech out of his helm. It was like every thought was just a momentary distraction from Soundwave, but he always cycled back to think about him. 

Towards the end of his shift, Blaster made it up in his mind that he was going to tell Soundwave how he felt… however it was that he felt… which he wasn’t really sure. After going over the options, he decided on the term ‘infatuated’. It felt suiting. Maybe, if Soundwave was willing to give it a try, they could go on a date or two, to see how they both felt. It was rare, after all, to get some privacy from their creations. It was hard to do much servo-holding and kissing with ten sets of tiny optics watching from every corner and crevice. 

The idea of kissing Soundwave sent Baster’s helm spinning in a frenzy. Oh, that would be nice, very nice indeed! He had to wonder how the telepath would kiss… was he passionate? Or was he soft and tentative? Either way sounded nice… just so long as it was with Soundwave. 

His peds paused outside of the doors to his quarters. Blaster pulled in a deep breath and let it out slowly. His spark continued to race regardless. He was going to march in there and tell Soundwave how he felt… He was going to ask him on a date and try to sweep him off his peds. If the telepath was interested, great! If not… Primus… what if he wasn’t interested?! 

Blaster froze with his servo hovering over the key-in panel to the door. What if telling Soundwave made things awkward? Maybe Soundwave wasn’t interested at all... Primus maybe he was just being nice before and didn’t even enjoy his company as a friend?! Blaster shook his helm and tossed away the idea. Soundwave didn’t seem like the kind of mech to waste energy on pretending to like someone. He also didn’t seem like the kind of mech to agree to live with someone he didn’t really trust and like. After all, he had already told Blaster so many things about his history, even things that were very personal and sensitive. Blaster nodded to himself, his faceplates re-gained their confident smile, he could do this! It was time to sweep Soundwave right off his peds! He keyed open the door to their quarters and stepped in with a boisterous spring in his step. 

Almost instantly, Blaster’s optics fell upon Soundwave. The mech in question was stretched out on the couch, an onlined datapad in his servo, and fast asleep. Blaster felt his excitement deflate a little, but he couldn’t feel all that bad. The scene was actually super cute. His expression softened, his rowdy grin dissolved into a soft smile. Almost by instinct, Blaster gently eased the datapad from Soundwave’s servo and placed it to the side. He grabbed a blanket from another chair and gently drabbed it over the sleeping mech. Soundwave sighed in his sleep and latched his servos onto the new blanket. He turned onto his side and curled into the warmth. Blaster had to hold himself from grabbing onto the mech and kissing him awake. 

Well… it wasn’t the exciting morning he had hoped for… but at least he got a cute view! The orange mech stretched and found his way over to the table in their quarters. He pulled out his reports and started arranging them on the table top. This certainly wasn’t as fun as he had hoped… but when he looked across the room he could watch as Soundwave smiled in his sleep… So that was nice. 

Working on his reports, Blaster wasn’t sure how much time had passed. Every few minutes he would peer back up from his work to watch the sleeping mech. Sometimes it was hard to pull his optics away. Blaster rested his cheek in the palm of his servo and sighed gently. It sure was hard to concentrate on reports when he could be admiring a pretty mech. Almost on cue, Soundwave stretched in his sleep. His servos reached up and unconsciously knocked his datapad off of the side table. He rolled onto his side and let out a soft sigh before his breathing evened back out. 

Blaster hurried over to the datapad, he let out a relieved sigh to find that it wasn’t shattered from the fall. Gently, he eased it back onto the table, this time he pushed it past where Soundwave could reach. Blaster’s optics focused on Soundwave, who had somehow managed to struggle out from under the blanket. He seated himself on the floor next to the couch and gently pulled the blankets back up over the recharging mech. It was amusing to know that the typically calm mech was a restless sleeper. 

With a gentle touch, Blaster smoothed the blanket back over the telepath’s shoulder. “That’s better” he murmured to himself. One of soundwave’s servos suddenly latched to Blaster’s arm. The boombox jolted, then let out a soft laugh to find the telepath was still sleeping. He really was a restless sleeper. Trying to detach the blue servo from his forearm also confirmed that the smaller mech had a hell of a grip. 

After struggling to detach the servo from his arm, without waking Soundwave, Blaster finally pried the telepath’s grip loose. He let out a soft breath of relief. For a moment, Blaster paused with Soundwave’s lax servo in his grip. He glanced up at the sleeping mech, glad to see he was still dead asleep, before turning his attention back to the servo resting in his grasp. With a curious hum, Blaster turned the servo palm up and ran his optics over it. Orns of hard work were displayed by the hardened plating and the small scars. This was certainly the servo of a working mech, someone who constantly had to fix the tiniest things… wiring, communication tech, cassettes. Gently, Blaster traced his thumb over the scars left from years of combat and work. He turned the servo over to admire the back. He tipped his helm to the side and smiled as he ran a gentle finger over the scarred knuckles, he had to wonder how many of those little scars came from fighting him. It was a hilarious thought in retrospect, that they ever tried to hurt each other. Blaster gently soothed his servo over the back of Soundwave’s knuckles, he smiled to himself. 

Blaster glanced back up at the sleeping mech, his gaze was met with two bright amber optics. A moment passed as Blaster gave Soundwave a dazed smile, while he was still holding the telepath’s servo. Soundwave didn’t make a sound, he just watched Blaster and blinked. It dawned on Blaster how… creepy… it must be to wake up with your new roommate just casually petting the back of your servo. With a yelp he dropped the blue servo and jumped back across the room. He watched as Soundwave slowly retracted his servo back under the blanket but made no move to get up. 

“I was just-! I -guh- you see, ‘Wave, I was just… You dropped a datapad! And I-I-I picked it up and you… I… servo!” Blaster stammered desperately. “Oh Primus” He groaned as he dropped his faceplates into his servos, “there’s no way to rationally explain that one… is there?”. He felt the energon pool in his face, Primus, this was the most mortifying thing that had ever happened to him! Now he could never ask Soundwave out without seeming like a total creep! 

A soft laugh pulled Blaster’s attention back up to the couch. Soundwave had pulled the blanket up to cover the lower half of his faceplates, so only his optics peered out at the boombox. A moment passed, and another stifled laugh came from the telepath, his optics peaked through the blankets with amusement. “What in the name of Cybertron were you doing?” he asked.

Blaster swallowed thickly. Soundwave’s amusement in the situation was soothing, at least… He didn’t seem offended or all that disturbed. If anything, it was almost as though the situation entertained him. 

Blaster took a deep breath before trying to re-explain himself. “You moved in your sleep and knocked a datapad over and I picked it up and you grabbed my arm and I had to make you let go and then I just got distracted by the scars on your knuckles…” he explained in one burst. Another chuckle was pulled from Soundwave. 

Slowly, the telepath sat up and stretched. He let out a satisfied sigh before fixing Blaster with a deadpan look. “You are very bizarre”. Blaster finally felt himself relax a little, a grin appeared on his faceplates again. 

“Sorry mech, I hope I didn’t weird you out” he offered with a nervous chuckle. Soundwave gave a simple shake of his helm and a tiny reassuring smile. 

Before anything else could be said, the doors to their quarters burst open to reveal 10 cassettes. The hoard of younglings piled in, they shared their greetings with each respective creator, then settled themselves casually in their quarters. Blaster glanced once more at Soundwave, who was busy chatting with Rumble and Frenzy, before letting out a final breath and relaxing his shoulders. He really needed to get stealthier at this whole… feelings thing. 

It didn’t take long for the cassettes to cue in that everyone had the rest of the day off. Before long, they were all bouncing off the walls begging to do something fun. Rumble, Frenzy, Eject, and Rewind all tugged and pulled at their carrier’s servos, begging to go to a park. Lazerbeak, Buzzsaw, and Ratbat all swooped around the living quarters with just as much zest. It sure would feel great to fly around in the open air! Besides, it was so sunny and nice out today! Ramhorn, Steeljaw, and Ravage lounged across the room and watched with amused optics as their sibling’s calamity unfolded. 

“Alright! Alright! Alright!” Blaster laughed as he ducked away from the swooping fliers, “to the park it is!”. His optics met with Soundwave’s, who was being climbed upon by Rumble and Frenzy. “What do you say, ‘Wave? Up for some fresh air?” he offered as casually as possible. 

Every cassette froze and turned their pleading optics upon the telepath. Soundwave calmly glanced at each pair of optics before looking back at Blaster. A small smile finally appeared on his faceplates and he gave a single nod, “very well”. Instantaneously, the entire room erupted back into pure excited havoc. 

After much scrambling around, some frenzied packing, and one quick trip to the bridging center, Soundwave, Blaster, and their cassettes found themselves stepping onto a beach. Soundwave let his peds sink into the sand, it was very soft. He smiled up at the sun and took a deep breath. How long had it been since he had stepped foot outside? Now that he thought about it, he hadn’t been outside since his injury… almost two weeks ago. Two weeks didn’t seem like an extraordinarily long time, but with so much rapid change, it felt like forever. In less than two weeks he had made his way from a battle, to an enemy medbay, to new quarters… to here. He returned his gaze to Blaster just in time to watch a herd of excited cassettes explode past him in a full run to the water. He smiled. Blaster looked up from where he was arranging two blankets on the sand, then gave one of the blankets an inviting pat. 

“Come hang out with me?” the boombox offered cheerily. Soundwave finally moved to sit next to Blaster. They relaxed in silence for a moment as the telepath continued to reflect on the most recent updates to his life. The sun felt great on their plating. It was so nice to watch their creations run around. Wordlessly, the carriers glanced at each other, smiled, then turned back to watch their cassettes play in the water, build sand castles, and swoop to and from the water. Only Ravage stayed away from the mayhem to sunbathe just down the beach. 

“This is pleasant”, Soundwave finally broke the silence. 

“Hmm? Yeah” Blaster tipped his helm to give his friend a grin. 

Finally, Soundwave granted Blaster access to his thoughts. “It feels like forever since I was last outside” he murmured. He turned his helm to meet optics with his counterpart before continuing, “however, at the same time, it feels like I just woke up in the medbay… everything has just occurred so fast. It seems impossible, but I already think of the Ark as home”. 

Blaster chuckled, “well, you know what they say…”. He glanced over to Soundwave, who gave him a puzzled look and shook his helm, “time flies when you are having a life changing crisis”. He watched as Soundwave cracked a smile. 

“Is that what they say?” amusement tinted Soundwave’s voice. 

“…no… but I mean, I might say it” Blaster grinned. Both mechs chuckled softly. 

“Fair point” Soundwave sighed and eased his way down to lay on his dorsa. Blaster mimicked his roommate to lay down next to him. A beat passed before Soundwave offered Blaster his servo. Blaster turned his helm to give Soundwave a puzzled look. 

“I assume that you need to examine it before I am allowed to fall asleep” Soundwave said in a flat voice, his lips twitched at the corners with effort to hide a smile. Blaster let out a mock gasp and shoved Soundwave by the shoulder. 

“I am insulted!” Blaster laughed. 

“Are you?” Soundwave smiled back.

“… no… but I could be!” Blaster shot back. They both snickered to each other. Blaster’s optics flickered back to Soundwave’s servo. It was still held up in the air… being offered. Blaster bit nervously at the inside of his cheek before gently easing his servo over to hold Soundwaves’. A moment passed and both mechs were very still and very quiet. Blaster fretted that Soundwave might be able to hear the speeding rate of his spark. 

Very gently, Blaster traced the lines of Soundwave’s servo. He let his thumb memorize the other mech’s knuckles, then his palm, then each finger. Neither mech looked at each other, they just quietly stared up at the passing clouds. Blaster didn’t really know what this was… Was this a romantic thing?? Or was Soundwave just letting him sate the curiosity he had shown before. A quick side glance at the telepath showed Soundwave’s optics dim and relaxed. Maybe it just felt nice to have someone touch his servo? After all, Soundwave didn’t let many mecha touch him… maybe it just felt good. It could be totally platonic… Blaster didn’t know what this meant, but he let out a soft sigh and decided to just go with it. There was no other signal that this was a romantic gesture from Soundwave. All the same… it was nice to hold his servo. 

Time seemed to slip away into the afternoon. Both mechs stayed stretched out on the blankets. Blaster hazily watched the clouds drift overhead, his audios perked to listen to the lapping waves of the sea and the voices of their playing creations. Slowly, he turned to glance at Soundwave. The mech in question looked very relaxed, his optics were gazing up into the sky, almost dimmed off. His breathing was soft and even. His servo remained a warm presence in Blaster’s grasp. Blaster smiled to himself as he turned his helm back up to look at the sky. This was nice… This was really nice. 

With the warmth from the sun, and the gentle press of Soundwave’s shoulder against his own, Blaster almost drifted off into recharge. He was so relaxed that he almost didn’t register the whirl of a spacebridge opening. Had 4 hours already passed? They weren’t supposed to get picked up until that evening… Maybe Prime just needed them back at the base for an emergency. Blaster felt Soundwave’s entire frame stiffen next to him, the servo in his grip closed into a sudden vice-like grip. The playful shouts and giggles of their cassettes fell dead silent. 

Blaster slowly turned his helm to the side, pulling the open space bridge into his view. Steps away from the space bridge, and rapidly stalking their way, was a rather miffed looking Decepticon Warlord. Before a moment could pass, the telepath next to him erupted into action. A flurry of sand fell from the sky as Soundwave pushed himself up and called to his cassettes to run far down the beach. Blaster, suddenly pried from his daze, jolted up and repeated the same message to his cassettes. Much to his relief, the cassettes didn’t protest and fled down the beach. Hopefully Ravage would be able to contact the Ark for help. 

“You _traitorous, scheming, deceitful_ turncoat!” Megatron snarled as he advanced. His plating stood on end, soft whirs sounded as his battle protocols booted up. Every wire of the grey mech eluded aggression and fury. It was paralyzingly terrifying. 

Blaster gasped and stumbled up, Soundwave was already standing next to him. The telepath looped an arm around Blaster’s arm and heaved him up to his peds.  
“You stay away from me” Soundwave spat back with more aggression than Blaster thought possible. Soundwave’s mask and visor engaged, finally snapping shut to hide his frightened and livid expression. 

“Is this what you do now?” Megatron roared, still advancing towards them, “relax on the beach with an Autobot like some overcharged entertainment drone?”. Soundwave took rapid steps backwards to buy more space between Megatron. Blaster stumbled to keep up as Soundwave tugged his arm on their retreat.

It was amazing how much bigger Megatron seemed in person… Sure, Blaster had seen the mech in battle before, but only in the distance as he fought with Optimus. And he certainly seemed much smaller on the screens of his communication hub. Now, watching the grey mech stalk towards them, he realized how huge Megatron really was. Within in instant, the mech was atop them, looming over both communication mechs like they were rodents. 

“Having _fun?_ ” Megatron’s burning red optics turned to focus on Blaster for the first time. Blaster, for once, felt himself completely lost for words. Within an instant, the back of a heavy servo struck him across the faceplates. A mechanical gasp from Soundwave was overpowered by a loud ringing in Blaster’s audios. He stumbled to the side, pushed away from his friend by the sheer force of the blow.

“Command: Do not _touch_ him!” Soundwave hissed, his plating flared. Blaster gave a dazed shake to his helm and looked back over at Soundwave. The blue mech had all of his plating flared out, he hadn’t budged from his spot. Megatron loomed over him, standing toe to toe with the smaller communication’s officer.

“Oh, brave now, are we?” Megatron crooned in a mock kindness. “I can’t help but notice that you are missing your badge”, his finger suddenly jabbed viciously at the center of Soundwave’s chestplates. Soundwave gave an obvious wince despite his mask. 

“Hey!” Blaster cried, pulling both mechs to look at him. “Ease the frag up, mech! He was just hurt there!”. 

Megatron’s optics pierced right through Blaster. The communications mech felt a nervous laugh bubble up from his throat. “Alright… How about we just stay nice and calm” he began gently, “Soundwave and I will get our cassettes home safe, and then we will give you a call over the intercom systems and we can talk, how about that?”. 

Slowly, Megatron’s optics dismissed Blaster and returned to Soundwave. “Perhaps that could be done, if only our communication systems _worked_ ”. 

Soundwave almost interrupted Megatron, still unmoving from his stance, “Query: How did you find us?”. 

A sickly-sweet smile stretched across Megatron’s faceplates, “that is interesting, isn’t it, Soundwave? How about, I show you”. In an instant he had the blue mech by the wrist and started back for the spacebridge. Soundwave let out a startled gasp as he was dragged down the beach. The sand gave him little to no friction when he attempted to dig his heels into it. Desperately, his free servo clawed at Megatron’s larger fist. 

“Negative!” Soundwave cried, “Negative! Desist!”. His unsuccessful attempts to pry his wrist free were only met with the tightening of Megatron’s grip. 

“Hey!” He heard Blaster shout down the beach. In an instant the orange mech was by his side, his plating flared and blue optics unusually bright. “You let go of him!” Blaster growled, his own fingers started prying at Megatron’s grip on Soundwave. Desperately, the orange boombox kicked and clawed at the larger warlord, “Let go! Fragging leave him alone!” he yelled. 

Megatron turned in a flash, shoved Blaster back hard enough to send him spinning backwards into the sand, then whipped Soundwave forward with force towards the bridge. Soundwave let out a choked cry when he felt something snap in his wrist. He clawed with more urgency, watching with a bright visor as he was dragged closer and closer back to the spacebridge. 

A shot from a handgun suddenly scorched Megatron’s audio. The warlord jerked in shock, letting go of Soundwave to grasp in alarm at his damaged audio receptor. Soundwave tumbled into the sand, his freed wrist made a disturbing crunching sound when he attempted to brace his fall. Pain radiated from his wrist to his elbow, but he pushed himself up anyways and booked it back across the beach. Distantly, as though through a fog, Soundwave could hear Megatron shouting commands to return, and perhaps a few threats. However, he kept his optics focused on Blaster, who was standing, a gun in one servo, and the other servo out to Soundwave. 

In an instant, Soundwave found himself latching to Blaster’s plating. The orange mech looped his arm around Soundwave and guided him away from Megatron, his optics and revolver never left the warlord. Somewhere in the distance, another spacebridge opened. Soundwave peered over Blaster’s shoulder and felt a wash of relief as Optimus Prime, Jazz, and Ironhide poured through the new bridge. 

Something in Soundwave felt… off. He glanced over to Megatron again. Despite the new arrivals, who were rapidly closing in on them, despite Blaster’s weapon trained on his every move, Megatron was looking directly at Soundwave. It felt like all the breath was knocked right out of Soundwave as he met optics with his ex-commander. His spark seized in terror as Megatron settled a smile on him, and in a voice, so relaxed and clearly directed to Soundwave alone, spoke “you will regret this… you really will”. 

The light of the space bridge washed over Megatron as he stepped back into it and vanished. The bridge was closed before anything else could be done.

The beach stood in silence for a long moment. A horrible ringing sound had settled into Soundwave’s audios. The once warm sun was suddenly stiflingly hot, and his injured wrist throbbed with every spark-beat. With a shaky gasp, Soundwave turned away from everything and hid his faceplates in Blaster’s shoulder. The approaching footsteps signaled the arrival of Optimus, Jazz, and Ironhide, but the telepath didn’t budge from his new hiding spot. Blaster’s servo rested gently between his shoulder blades, it was reassuring. 

“Is everyone okay?” Optimus’s voice was concerned, but he retained his usual calm. 

“Yeah… I think so. The little guys are just down the beach. I think maybe ‘Wave’s wrist is broken”, Blaster spoke gently. Soundwave didn’t move to look up when he was mentioned, he just stayed close, tucked into Blaster out of sheer terror. 

“Ratchet is on stand by in the medbay, he can fix your wrist right now”, Optimus directed his voice to Soundwave. Soundwave refused to budge from Blaster’s shoulder.  
“Primus, old Megs’ looked pissed off”, Jazz chimed in, attempting to lighten the situation. 

Soundwave finally lifted his helm from Blaster, then took a shaky step back. Instinctively, he clutched his broken wrist close to his frame. “He was”, he said softly as his lower mask retracted. “He has very angry… He will try to kill me soon” he whispered. 

Silence stretched for a long uncomfortable moment as all four mechs stared at him, unsure of what to say… he wasn’t wrong. 

“We won’t let that happen”, Blaster said softly. Soundwave finally looked up from the sand, his visor met with Blaster’s unusually serious optics. “I won’t ever let that happen,” Blaster shook his helm, “no way in the pits, no way. Not gonna’ happen”. 

Despite himself, Soundwave felt his helm nodding. For some reason, he trusted that Blaster would do everything in his power to keep him safe. “Thank you” he whispered, “if you were not here today- “. 

“-I was here though, and that’s what matters, okay?” Blaster cut off Soundwave’s ruminating. He reached out a gentle servo and looped it around blue shoulders, “C’mon ‘Wave, let’s get you in to Ratchet, okay?”. 

Soundwave let himself be guided down the beach. Optimus, Jazz, and Ironhide trailed behind the two boomboxes. Patiently waiting by the spacebridge, all wearing very serious expressions, were 10 cassettes. 

Soundwave wordlessly stopped to kneel down. He offered his undamaged arm out, after a moment, all 6 of his cassettes clung to him in a tight hug. In the distance, he could hear Blaster greeting his own worried creations. Not a word was shared, they would talk later once Soundwave was able to steady himself. Quietly, the telepath tucked each of his cassettes away into his chestplates. 

He stood and paused for a moment as the gravity of the situation became apparent to him. This was the first time he had docked his cassettes since his injury. Soundwave looked down at his docking station. With 6 warm cassettes tucked away, he felt much calmer. He let a shaky breath out and traced over his glass. For the last two weeks, his docking compartments felt like a dangerous place, where his cassettes could have been hurt while stored away. Now, with Megatron out there looking for him, the danger was no longer in his docking station. He smoothed a servo over his chestplates. It felt like a safe space for his creations again. A minor victory… in a very scary situation. 

A gentle servo on his shoulder drew his attention back to Blaster. Blaster’s optics carried concern for a moment before they traveled down to look at the cassettes tucked away behind the glass pane. A proud smile grew on his face. 

“Hey now,” Blaster smiled reassuringly, “that’s amazing ‘Wave”. Soundwave smiled back for the first time since he saw Megatron. It took another split-sparker to understand the importance of the moment. Soundwave peered over the beach once more before he let Blaster gently guide him through the space bridge back into the Ark… Back home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope ya'll enjoyed this! Like I said before, there will be more chapters soon, so subscribe and keep your eyes peeled for more if you're interested! Feel free to leave a kudos and comment! I love to hear your feedback. If you have any requests or are interested in an art trade, leave a comment and we can sort something out. For more info on art trades and requests take a peak in my profile description.


	12. The Shifting Light

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Soundwave has a few discoveries after running into Megatron

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Say hello to chapter 12!  
> Sorry that it is not a very lengthy or eventful update, but I hope you enjoy it anyways!
> 
> These characters are not mine, I am just playing around with them. Enjoy!

“and how does this feel? Any discomfort?” Ratchet gingerly tugged on Soundwave’s wrist, prompting a groan of pain from the telepath. “Sorry,” the medic gave a guilty look and gave an encouraging squeeze to Soundwave’s shoulder with his free servo, “but I need to be certain that there is only one fracture in your wrist”. Soundwave nodded with understanding, then watched as Ratchet stepped back to review the scans and reports he had just taken. Soundwave numbly cradled his wrist and tried to ignore the burning throbs that radiated from his servo to his shoulder.

Slowly, Soundwave’s optics shifted to across the room. He couldn’t help but smile as he watched Blaster recount the beach attack to Optimus, Jazz, and Prowl. Over Ratchet’s mumbling and the whirring medical equipment, Soundwave couldn’t quite make out what Blaster was saying (without using his telepathy… of course). However, with Blaster’s animated narrative skills and aggravated hand gestures, Soundwave could almost hear the story. Blaster was so expressive sometimes, especially when he got worked up over something. Soundwave had to suppress a snicker at how much that contrasted Blaster’s usual laid-back happy demeanor. Soundwave silently observed Optimus Prime’s empathetic nodding, as well as Jazz’s light-sparked discourse which very thinly attempted to conceal the stern anger with Megatron’s actions. Prowl didn’t even look at Blaster as he listened, his helm was tucked down, almost into his chest, as he rapidly wrote notes in a datapad. Soundwave hummed under his breath, it was odd how familiar he had become with all three of the mech’s behaviour. 

“Alright, Soundwave,” Ratchet’s voice called the blue mech’s attention back to him. Ratchet placed his datapad back on a side table and reached out to take Soundwave’s wrist in his grasp. Soundwave handed over his wrist and attempted not to wince as it was shifted. “As predicted, your wrist is broken, however, it is a simple fracture and fairly clean, so it shouldn’t take too long for me to repair”, Ratchet explained, pointing along the underside of Soundwave’s wrist where the break was hidden. Soundwave nodded and watched as Ratchet began working on his wrist. A silence stood between the two of them, but it was comfortable. Soundwave marveled at the deep contrast from two weeks ago, with the odd and slightly suspicious silences that would stretch during his first stay in Ratchet’s medbay. 

Soundwave held still as Ratchet pricked him with a numbing agent. Before, long, he couldn’t feel much of anything past his elbow, it was a wonderful relief from the throbbing pain he had been enduring. With steady servos, Ratchet opened up the underside of Soundwave’s wrist, exposing circuitry, nerve endings, and a very fractured wrist strut. 

Soundwave leaned forward with curiosity to watch as Ratchet gently moved ligaments and nerves aside to better access the strut. It didn’t take long for Ratchet to weld the broken strut back into place. Most of the operation was spent with Ratchet double checking for any other damage inside his arm. Not much time at all had passed before Ratchet began re-arranging and closing up Soundwave’s wrist again. 

“Thank you,” Soundwave said softly. He realized how long it had been since he had last spoken. The medic looked up from wiping the energon off Soundwave’s wrist to give an encouraging smile. 

“You don’t have to thank me,” Ratchet murmured before looking back down at his work, “it’s what I’m here for”. None-the-less, Ratchet’s field glowed a little brighter, it wasn’t often that he was truly thanked for the little repairs. Always diligent, Ratchet gently maneuvered Soundwave’s servo and wrist into different bends, ensuring that everything would settle properly. Soundwave watched patiently, he still couldn’t feel anything in that arm. 

Finally content with his work, Ratchet stepped back and nodded. The medic wiped his servos clean with a spare cloth and spoke, “your arm with probably remain numb for another couple of breems, it should be back to normal by the end of the day. Keep your weight off of your wrist, don’t do anything physically taxing, and try to avoid writing with that servo for long durations of time for about a week”. Soundwave nodded obediently and filed the information away for later referencing. 

“Thank you… again,” Soundwave murmured, “you clearly put much care into your work”.

Ratchet smiled for a moment, then cleared his throat and returned to his usual professional demeanor. “Your welcome,” he said simply. 

A gentle servo suddenly rested in Soundwave’s shoulder, and he turned to find that it was attached to Blaster. Behind Blaster, the rest of the medbay was empty. Soundwave hadn’t even noticed as the Prime, Jazz, and Prowl left. It was likely that the three mechs wanted to give him privacy… which he greatly appreciated. The orange boombox smiled gently, his optics lingered for a moment on Soundwave’s newly repaired wrist, “ready to go home?”. 

Soundwave nodded and let Blaster help him down from the medical berth. Even though his wrist was the only real damage he had sustained, Soundwave somehow felt incredibly stiff all throughout his frame. He let Blaster gently support him for a moment before he re-gained his balance, he continued to cradle his numbed servo against his chestplates. The two communications officers headed for the door. 

“Keep him from over-exerting himself!” Ratchet called over his shoulder, not looking up from adding to his reports. 

Blaster chuckled as they stepped out into the hallway before calling back, “I can try”.   
Soundwave laughed softly as the doors closed behind them, “you will fail”. 

The remainder of the afternoon had been un-eventful, a stark (and appreciated) contrast with the morning. Soundwave’s cassettes had stayed tucked away in his docks for a few more hours before they began mentally kicking him to be let out. It was so nice to be able to dock again, especially after such a scary event, but even the calmest of cassettes could get antsy. Before long, all 10 cassettes were out again, they evenly split their time between examining Soundwave’s patched-up wrist and running around with excitement from how eventful their day had been. Rewind and Rumble put on a marvelous intimidation of Megatron stalking down the beach. It was both amusing and uncannily accurate, Soundwave could only let out a tense laugh. Ravage didn’t move from Soundwave’s lap for a great deal of the afternoon. Blaster also seemed to be glued to Soundwave’s side… not that he minded, of course. 

The evening found everyone huddled on the couch to watch a movie. Soundwave was apprehensive about the human entertainment, however, his creations seemed to enjoy it. Blaster did as well, apparently. Throughout the movie, each creation began to nod off to recharge. By the time that the credits rolled, all but Soundwave and Blaster were fast asleep. What followed was a number of trips to and from each berthroom to deliver and tuck in all 10 creations. 

Soundwave sighed and returned to his position on the couch. A moment later, Blaster plopped himself next to the telepath. Blaster offered an energon goodie out to the blue mech, one they had made the night before. Soundwave smiled in appreciation and accepted it. Both mechs sat in a comfortable silence for a moment as they each worked on a goodie. Soundwave let out a pleased sigh and turned to Blaster, who was licking his fingers clean, “those really were good”. 

Blaster grinned back, “didn’t I tell you that you would be glad we made ‘em?”. 

Soundwave smiled, “Yes, however I think that the best part was making them with you”. 

Blaster tried (and failed) to mask a goofy smile at that, “yeah… that was a lot of fun, wasn’t it?”. Both carrier mechs sat in silence for a long moment, content to just relax next to each other. Soundwave absently stretched out and rolled his wrist. It still ached a bit, but it was clearly healing, and much more tolerable now. 

Blaster watched Soundwave’s wrist for a moment, “how does that feel?”, he asked softly. 

Soundwave gave his friend a re-assuring smile, “not bad… better”. His smile suddenly dropped from his face. 

“What’s wrong?” Blaster inched closer to the blue mech, he let one of his servos gently rub at his friend’s backstruts.

A melancholy sigh lifted from Soundwave’s chest as he leaned into Blaster’s touch. His optics didn’t lift from his wrist, which was resting gingerly on his lap. “It’s just…” Soundwave shifted to turn more towards Blaster, their knees pressed together as he leaned in. “I just was not expecting that level of aggression… today… from Megatron”. Hurriedly, he added, “I have seen him aggressive before, of course. It has just never been directed towards me, until now”. He suddenly lifted a servo to gently touch the side of Blaster’s face, “and he hit you”. 

Blaster’s engines whined as he forcefully held himself upright. Every inch of his processor begged him to lean in and press a kiss to Soundwave’s lips… until he realized that Soundwave was only touching his cheek because that’s where Megatron had struck him. He let a breath out from his nasal ridge and cleared his throat. 

“It doesn’t hurt anymore, it’s really nothing” he assured gently. Soundwave watched him silently, his servo lingered on the side of his faceplates for a moment longer before it was retracted. Blaster immediately longer for its presence to return.

Soundwave’s gaze returned to his lap. Instinctively, Blaster leaned closer to wrap his arm around his friend’s shoulder. Soundwave leaned into the embrace. “whether or not it still hurts… it was not okay,” Soundwave’s voice was so low that Blaster had to strain to hear it. “It was inexcusable for Megatron to hurt you… or threaten our creations,” Soundwave continued, his voice began to strengthen, “or to hurt me”. His sad gaze shifted into a frustrated glare, still focusing on his lap. “The Megatron I once followed never would have done that… he never would have threatened me to return when I was critically injured either”, his servos began to ball up into fists. 

Blaster gently took Soundwave’s repaired wrist in his servo and tried to loosen Soundwave’s grasp. “Easy, gentle… please,” he breathed, “don’t do that so tight, you could hurt your wrist”. 

Soundwave let out a pressurized breath and loosened his servos and shoulders. He almost went limp against Blaster, his optics glazed over and he spoke in a numb voice, “I thought I knew who he was, I thought I knew what our cause was about… but the more time I spend away from all of it, and the more time I spend outside of his influence, the more I realize how wrong he is… how wrong I have been”. The tremor in his voice poured over as he leaned forward to press his faceplates into his servos. Coolant began to leak from his optics and down his faceplates. “I was so blinded by my rage at the way that Cybertron had been, I completely lost sight of what I was fighting for. How could I?” he sobbed in shame, “I have done such horrible things in this war”. 

Blaster tensed and immediately pulled Soundwave closer. He gently guided Soundwave to sit up and lean against his frame. Soundwave quietly let Blaster move him and turned his frame to press against Blaster, he hid his faceplates into his friend’s shoulder and wept. Blaster hugged Soundwave tight, his servo soothed over blue backstruts. “It’s okay, it’s alright” he tried to hum softly, but Soundwave stayed curled into his frame. 

“I think we all have kinda lost our way since this war began,” Blaster soothed, “we just need to work together to stay on track”. He gently rocked back and forth, trying his best to sooth his friend. 

Eventually, Soundwave’s weeping began to subside. He turned his faceplates to rest his cheek on Blaster’s shoulder. The telepath sighed and scrubbed his faceplates with a weary servo, then slowly pushed himself back up, out of Blaster’s arms. Blaster tried not to notice how much he wanted to keep holding Soundwave. 

“I apologise,” Soundwave murmured as he finished wiping the tears from his optics. “I… I don’t typically weep that often,” He began to crack a smile, “I have cried too many times around you, you must think I am soft”. 

Blaster urgently shook his helm, “no, no of course not!” he assured, “you’re in the middle of going through a huge life change, of course you’re gonna get a little emotional. That’s totally understandable”. 

Soundwave’s expression sharpened as he nodded, “I suppose you are correct,” he murmured, “it almost feels as thought I am mourning a part of my life, some part of me that I couldn’t keep”. He ducked his helm down in thought. “I think I am ready” he said. 

Blaster’s optics focused on his friend, he gave a puzzled look, “ready for what?”.

“Ready to complete this shift in my life,” Soundwave explained. His servo brushed against the empty spot on his chestplates, where the Decepticon insignia was once proudly placed. “I will never be a Decepticon again, not after all of this,” he looked back up at Blaster, who was still watching him with puzzled optics. 

“I don’t want to be a neutral anymore,” Soundwave explained. Understanding began to dawn in Blaster’s optics. 

“Are you actually saying that you want to be…” Blaster trailed off, his field radiated excitement and uncertainty.

“an Autobot.” Soundwave said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope ya'll enjoyed this! Like I said before, there will be more chapters, so subscribe and keep your eyes peeled for more if you're interested! Feel free to leave a kudos and comment! I love to hear your feedback.  
> For more info on art trades and requests take a peak in my profile description.


	13. The Marked Light

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sudden and official changes become a part of Soundwave's life for a moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for waiting patiently for this update folks! Here is a more eventful chapter! 
> 
> These characters are not mine, I am just playing around with them. Enjoy!

Soundwave’s gaze rested blankly on his own chestplates. His visor dimmed for a moment, then flashed brightly as he pulled in a deep breath. It was odd, almost surreal, to see such a bright red mark sitting in the centre of his chestplates. He was just getting used to a blank space in the centre of his glass… now this sharp red mark dominated his processor. Thinking retrospectively, it was almost uncanny how well he could track his recent life through what sat at the centre of his frame. One moment, a dark purple insignia… then a wound… scars… nothing… and now this. Soundwave’s covered optics narrowed sceptically down at the new mark on his chestplates. After so many years serving the Decepticons, it almost didn’t feel real. 

The telepath lifted a servo and gingerly brushed a servo over his new Autobot insignia. He almost felt detached from his own frame… surreal. The entire morning had been a flurry of paperwork, medical check-ups, meetings with the officers, and swearing oaths. Finally, after a number of gruelling fitness tests and lights being shined in his optics, Soundwave was passed as fit for duty as a solider. The whole process grabbed the blue mech by his metaphorical heels and threw him back to joining the Decepticons in his late youth. 

Soundwave had spent much of his tests and interviews with sceptical optics on the Prime, who always returned his gaze with a polite smile. As explained by Optimus, it was more of a bureaucratic endeavor than anything… every Autobot knew well enough how capable Soundwave was (his reputation as one of the scariest Decepticons ensured as much). However, every new Autobot recruit had to undergo the same physical, mental, and legal barrage to be official. It wouldn’t be fair if his reputation alone could fast-track him through the admittance when so many before him had sat through all these tests. Besides, he had just recovered from a nasty injury… anther few checkups wouldn’t hurt before allowing him back into the active war. With a begrudging sigh, Soundwave admitted that it did make logical sense. Thus, Soundwave found himself tossed around the Ark all morning from officer to officer to medic, with the Prime, Prowl, Blaster, and 10 cassettes trailing close behind. 

Finally, Optimus, Ratchet, Prowl, and Jazz all retreated to glance over his results one more time. It took them a whole of ten seconds to return and give Soundwave the final nod of approval. One more oath and a few handshakes later, and Soundwave was officially an Autobot. By immediate extend, Autobot citizenship was also extended to all of his dependents. His six cassettes cheered and laughed, rather glad that they didn’t need to undergo all of the same tests. Soundwave gave them his best parental glare from across the room.

Ratchet casually extended the offer to change Soundwave’s amber optics to blue. However, Soundwave declined. Even as a Decepticon, he never wanted to change his optics for a political statement… and he preferred a red visor. Ratchet seemed relieved. Next, of course, came the insignia. It took a matter of 5 minutes for ratchet to place the Autobot insignia in the centre of Soundwave’s chestplates. Ever since that new red mark had appeared over his spark, Soundwave just couldn’t stop staring at it. Somewhere across the room, he could hear his creations giddy with excitement as they also received the new emblems. Part of Soundwave wanted to look up and watch his creation’s excitement. Yet, another part of him was content just gazing down at his new insignia. After all this time, it almost felt like he was wearing the mark of an enemy. Yet, this ‘enemy’ was the reason he was alive… as well as his cassettes. Not to mention that this ‘enemy’ was making a lot more sense in this war than he ever thought possible. Somehow, after all this time… it felt right. 

“Hey,” the familiar voice pulled Soundwave’s attention up. Blaster wore his usual cheer and smiled at Soundwave. Soundwave (almost to his own surprise) returned a very small smile. Blaster casually scratched his chin, looking down at Soundwave’s new insignia. “Did I ever tell ya’ that red was your colour?” he gave a charming grin. Soundwave snorted and rolled his optics by instinct alone. Blaster laughed and rested a servo on his roommate’s shoulder, giving it a warm squeeze. “No, really” he said with a soft genuity, “you look great”. 

Soundwave dipped his helm to hide a gentle smile, “thank you” he murmured. Blaster’s spark almost seized with fondness. He felt a sudden urge to wrap his arms around Soundwave and squeeze and kiss him. Instead, he chose to stomp those feelings down to the back of his processor, praying to any power above that Soundwave’s telepathy didn’t pick up on them. It seemed that Primus was merciful that day, as Soundwave seemed suddenly distracted with watching his cassettes parade around the medical bay with their new bright red insignias. 

Blaster chuckled and moved to stand beside Soundwave to watch as Rumble, Frenzy, and Ratbat made a great flourishing show out of their return. Lazerbeak and Buzzsaw took the more conservative route and quietly landed on Soundwave’s shoulders. Ravage stalked between the medical berths to avoid any extra attention. Soundwave smiled with amusement as Rumble and Frenzy proudly showed off their new insignias. 

“Do we look good or what?” Rumble joked as he pushed Frenzy out of the way so that Soundwave could see him better. Soundwave gave a gentle nod, which seemed to please all of his cassettes immensely. Ratbat gave an excited twirl before landing in Soundwave’s cupped servos. 

“Well now that you guys are all official…” Blaster grinned broadly, “Jazz and I actually had an idea”. Soundwave immediately knew that he wouldn’t like it. 

Jazz practically skidded across the medbay to explain. “Old Blast-mech and I were thinkin’ that maybe you could join some of us for yer’ first official team drinks” his grin was just as broad as Blasters. “And maybe yer’ little fellas could tag along and meet some folks over in the rec. room… what do ya’ say?”. 

Before Soundwave could get a word out, a chorus of cassette voices erupted from around the room begging him to agree. Soundwave sighed and gazed over to Blaster, who was trying very hard to hide his amused glee. “You know that I am not the most social of mechs”, Soundwave placed his words bluntly. 

Blaster swung a lazy arm over Soundwave’s shoulders, then feverishly ignored the mischievous wink he got from Jazz right after. “Lucky for you ‘Wave, you’re gonna be hanging around with two very social mechs, right Jazz?”. Jazz grinned with a nod. Soundwave chewed at the inside of his cheek, then glanced over to the mob of small pleading optics. Immediately he turned away, it was near impossible to say no to begging cassettes. 

“Very well… as you wish” he murmured. The arm around his shoulder tightened and gave him a little excited jostle as his (and Blasters) more excitable cassettes immediately made for the doors. 

Soundwave allowed himself to be led (dragged) down the corridors of the Ark towards the main rec. room. Before he knew it, he was standing in the entrance to a horrifyingly densely populated break room. Teams of blue optics turned to stare at the new mech… with a new insignia over his chestplates. Given that his injury and recovery was well-known throughout the Ark, no one was surprised to see him… And given the new mark on his glass pane, a number of the friendlier Autobots raised a glass or offered a welcoming smile. A few mechs among the crowd, especially a number of the minibots, glowered silently at the mech they had memorized in their processors as the enemy.

Soundwave was ever grateful when Blaster and Jazz pulled him out of the public optic and into a more private booth against a wall. He let out a tense breath as Jazz, Blaster, Prowl, and his cassettes all clambered in, giving him a little more privacy. Blaster shared an encouraging smile and squeezed his servo briefly. Soundwave almost wished that Blaster would hold his servo… although he didn’t know exactly why… it seemed as though it would be comforting. 

Jazz vanished from the booth for a moment, then returned with a stack of energon cubes in his clutches. He distributed them evenly over the table. Soundwave eyed the cube that was slid in-front of him. It glowed just a little too brightly to be a mid-grade level. A small sip confirmed his suspicion that Jazz had indeed selected from one of the higher possible grades. He leveled a glance at the saboteur, who grinned back mischievously. 

“Don’t worry, I ain’t tryin’ ta get ya’ drunk” Jazz chucked, “ah just figure that it’s been a while since you’ve had a proper stiff drink”. Soundwave didn’t admit how accurate that assumption was, but he nodded and thanked the smaller mech. “Besides, ah’ plan on watching how much ya’ both drink. Yer both scheduled for the real deal work tomorrow, and we don’t need any hangovers for yer first day… or any other mistakes tonight for that matter” Jazz developed a mischievous glint in his visor as he listed a few possible mistakes, “after all, we don’t really want ya to spend yer first big day as an Autobot partyin’ it up too hard… getting’ in trouble, pullin’ a prank, gettin’ lost in the desert… confessions of love… none of tha- Ouch!” Jazz jolted back with a yelp and leaned down to rub his sore shin, he glared at Blaster, who gave him his usual -if a little strained- smile. Soundwave blinked back and forth between the two mechs, entirely uncertain of what had just happened. 

Blaster suddenly grabbed his cube and held it up to Soundwave, “cheers” he smiled warmly. Soundwave tapped his cube to Blaster’s, then Jazz’s and Prowl’s, before they all took a swig. After a moment of settling into his new environment, and glancing around the rec. room for any possible threats, Soundwave finally gave the nod of approval to his cassettes and let them disperse themselves out to explore the room. All the same… he kept close tabs on them through the bonds. He wasn’t quite comfortable sending them out on their own completely yet.   
The energon settled warmly in his tanks, and Soundwave felt a gradual glow appear over his faceplates. It had been a while since his last drink of high-grade. This was nice… He smiled warmly over at Blaster. Blaster failed to contain his entertainment at the mildly buzzed (and certainly pleased) expression on the telepath’s faceplates. 

The conversation flowed nicely through the evening, and Soundwave was introduced to a number of Autobots who wandered over to say hello and shake his servo. It was certainly interesting to meet these mechs in a more civil way. The more polite mechs just said they hellos, chatted for a moment, then wandered off to the next table. The less composed few tried (and clearly failed) to avoid gawking at the fact that Soundwave did actually have a face (and a nice one to… according to some of the more intoxicated population). 

Gradually, the cassettes returned with sleepy optics and requests to be tucked away into their carrier’s chest plates. Blaster and Soundwave welcomed each cassette back with a warm pat and a spot to tuck away and recharge in their docks. Finally, when Ravage and Steeljaw returned to their carriers requesting some rest, Blaster and Soundwave had all of their creations tucked away. 

At some point in the night, Soundwave found himself walking back home with Blaster. A few cubes of high-grade buzzed contently through his frame and helped contribute to the few odd missteps he made. Blaster seemed just as warmed with high-grade as Soundwave felt. When they first left the rec. room, they had chatted back and forth for some time. Half way through their walk home, both mechs seemed content to just walk side-by-side in silence. Soundwave liked that about Blaster… as chatty and friendly as Blaster was, the mech always gave him some time to himself as well. It was nice. Blaster was nice. Soundwave smiled fondly over at the orange mech, who immediately returned the smile. At some point, the two mechs gradually slowed their walking until they had stopped in the middle of a large empty hallway. Soundwave wasn’t entirely sure why… but Blaster had a suddenly very serious and thoughtful expression as he gazed at the telepath. 

Soundwave blinked a few times. For a moment, he felt the temptation to scan Blaster’s processor, it appeared that there was much on his mind. He immediately cut that thought out. He had worked hard to gain trust with the Autobots, and he hadn’t entirely earned it for many of them yet either. It simply wouldn’t do to return to his old days of mind-reading whenever the whim crossed him. Besides… he trusted Blaster, and he felt that Blaster trusted him… he didn’t want to misstep and offend his friend. 

Blaster suddenly reached out and gripped Soundwave’s servo for a moment. Soundwave glanced down at their conjoined servos with a neutral expression. Almost as if burned, Blaster yanked his servo away again. Soundwave was confused by the mild disappointment that tinged the back of his processor at the withdrawal. He looked back up at Blaster, who had his mouth open as if to speak, but nothing came out. Soundwave tilted his helm to the side a little in a silent question. Blaster’s faceplates flushed, then paled. Suddenly, he snapped his mouth closed and seemed to return to his usual demeanor. He cleared his throat and looked around with some uncertainty. Suddenly his optics brightened and he stabbed his servo up to point with awkward excitement at a security camera mounted to the wall. 

Soundwave almost jolted back at Blaster’s sudden demeanor change, then turned to look at the camera as well. 

“The uh… heh, the uh security cameras are probably being watched by Red Alert right now”, Blaster grinned with some rare awkwardness in his tightened field, “apparently, it drives him mad when mechs made funny faces at his cameras”. Soundwave’s stern curiosity suddenly cracked into mild amusement. 

“And do you plan on making a face at the camera?” Soundwave smiled coolly. Blaster chuckled casually, leaning back on his heels. 

“Nah, making faces at cameras is a hobby for children” Blaster said, then immediately turned and made a wild face at the camera. He turned back with a straight expression, “I am far to mature for that”. 

He wasn’t sure if it was the bizarreness of the situation, or the high-grade still circulating in his system… but Soundwave couldn’t hold in his laugher. Blaster seemed rather proud of himself for cracking Soundwave up, then wrapped an arm around Soundwave’s shoulders to continue their walk back to their quarters. 

“Blaster,” Soundwave mused with a soft fondness in his voice, “you are an odd mech”. Blaster chuckled and smiled at Soundwave. 

“I aim ta’ please, ‘Wave” he grinned. Once again, they fell into a comfortable silence that lasted until they made it home. 

Megatron wasn’t in his throne today. In fact, Megatron hadn’t been in his throne since he ordered a bridge out to Soundwave’s predicted position. As was nature of the Nemesis, rumours immediately began to spread about where exactly the warlord had vanished off to after his unsuccessful recall mission. When the spacebridge opened to allow for the warlord’s return, the entirety of the crew stepped back to allow for a great berth… Either way, they predicted… Megatron was either going to return dragging along a fighting telepath (nothing that anybody wanted to get in the way of), or he was going to return alone and stark-raving mad. However, when he returned, Megatron hadn’t even glanced up at his frightened crew before stocking out of the command centre in a fume of rage. A communal sigh of relief echoed through the room as the door slammed shut behind the large grey mech. 

A day had passed and Megatron was yet to make an appearance since. An eerie stillness spread through the ship and many mechs glanced over their shoulders on occasion. The only mech who seemed unabashed by the recent developments was Starscream, who had gladly taken lead in Megatron’s absence. Many of the Decepticons didn’t know what was scarier… being at the receiving end of Starscream’s searing rage for ignoring direct commands from an officer… or getting caught out by Megatron who had not technically passed full control over to his second in command. 

In truth, Megatron had spend the last cycle in his own quarters. Upon his first arrival to his quarters, he had practically torn the place apart with rage. Then, cracked datapads and toppled furniture littered his floor for an hour and a half as he brooded, sitting on the edge of his berth. A meager knock at his door signified Hook’s arrival; and the warlord sat still to allow the medic a moment to quickly repair the bleeding scorch from Blaster’s pistol. Hook clearly didn’t want to stick around as Megatron simmered in anger, as soon as he finished his repairs he vanished with no medic’s orders. Megatron sat in silence for a very long time. He wasn’t sure how much time had passed until his internal systems alerted him that he had gone all night with no recharge or energon intake. With a frustrated sigh, the warlord pushed himself up and cleaned his all but destroyed quarters. It just wouldn’t be… functional… to keep them in such disarray; and he never liked a mess. 

Eventually, with his space back in moderate order, Megatron sat heavily at his desk and forced himself to take in at least one cube of energon. He absent-mindedly flicked through the datapad that Reflector had been updating for him. Soundwave hadn’t been sighted all that much since the previous afternoon… of course. It seemed that the telepath and his little hoard of creations had vanished into the heart of the Ark since the attack. No surprise there. None the less, Megatron absently flipped through the pictures Reflector had shared since Soundwave’s abandonment. 

A small voice in the back of his processor began to set a chill along his frame. He hadn’t realized how bad this whole thing had gotten… He was so blinded by his feelings of rage and betrayal… Soundwave was supposed to be his most loyal mech. A sudden ember of rage stoked itself back up for a moment, then he was doused in a freezing guilt as his processor replayed the sickening crunch he had felt in Soundwave’s wrist when he tightened his hold. He hadn’t meant to actually damage the mech to that extent… although… in the moment, it had almost felt good. Looking back at it, all he could feel was a cold guilt and echoes of sorrow. He never would have imagined this after all the years he had kept the telepath by his side. 

A sudden conviction to make things right struck Megatron. He couldn’t go on treating one of his most loyal mechs this way. He would do the right thing. Next time he got a chance to retrieve Soundwave, he would be successful… and he wouldn’t underestimate that annoying orange Autobot that seemed glued to Soundwave’s side. 

“Next time…” Megatron murmured to an empty room, “next time I won’t fail”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope ya'll enjoyed this! Like I said before, there will be more chapters, so subscribe and keep your eyes peeled for more if you're interested!   
> Feel free to leave a kudos and comment! I love to hear your feedback, it motivates me to keep updating.


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